This time, we’re beginning a multi-week inquiry: (1) what percentage of the time does the Supreme Court affirm each District and Division of the Appellate Court unanimously; and (2) among non-unanimous decisions, what’s the average votes to affirm for each court?
In Table 1729, we report the percentage of unanimous affirmances for each District and Division between 1990 and 1994. In 1990, two-thirds of the decisions from Division One of the First District were affirmed unanimously and ditto the Second District. In 1991, all of the civil decisions from Division Six of the First District were affirmed unanimously. Half of the decisions from Division Three of the First District were affirmed. In 1992, half of the decisions from the First and Second Divisions of the First District were affirmed. In 1993, all of the decisions from Division Two of the First were affirmed, while half of the decisions from the Third District were. In 1994, sixty percent of the decisions from Division Four of the First District were affirmed.
Eighty percent of the civil decisions from the Third District in 1995 were affirmed unanimously. Sixty percent of the civil decisions from the Second District in 1996 were affirmed. In 1997, all of the decisions from Division One of the First District were affirmed unanimously. In 1998, half of the civil decisions from the Fourth District were affirmed unanimously. In 1999, two-thirds of the decisions from Division Six of the First District were affirmed unanimously.
Join us back here next time as we review the data for average-votes-to-affirm.
Image courtesy of Flickr by Ron Frazier (no changes).