Last time, we reviewed the reversal rates at the Supreme Court in criminal cases for the Divisions of Chicago’s First District of the Appellate Court.  This time, we’re looking at the reversal rates across the rest of the state.

The Third District fared worst from 1990 to 2020, with a collective reversal rate of 64.18%.  The Fourth and Fifth Districts were almost tied – the 4th at 56.89% and the 5th, 56.25%.  The Second District fared best, with a reversal rate of 52.88%.

The distribution of cases across these Districts is interesting.  The Second District accounts for 208 criminal cases, while the Third District has produced 201.  The Fourth District has had 167 criminal cases reviewed in the past 31 years.  But the Fifth District has had only 80 cases reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Between 1990 and 1999, the Third District fared worst, with a reversal rate in criminal cases of 68.09%.  The Fourth District was right behind at 65.79%.  The Second District did fairly well at 53.16% and the Fifth District best of all, with a reversal rate of only 48.65%.

Between 2000 and 2009, the Third District once again led with a reversal rate of 61.84%.  The other Districts were tightly bunched – Fifth (54.17%), Fourth (53.09%) and Second (52.63%).

From 2010 to 2020, the Fifth District has led with a reversal rate in criminal cases of 73.68%.  The Third District was next with 64.10% of the criminal cases the Court reviewed reversed.  The Fourth was next at 56.25% and the Second had a reversal rate of 52.83%.

Join us back here next week as we continue our review of the reversal rate data.

Image courtesy of Pixabay by MBraun0223 (no changes).