Last time, we looked at the data for the years 2000 through 2009 on the civil side, looking at (1) which areas of law drew the most amicus briefs; and (2) were most of the briefs filed attacking or defending the Appellate Court decision. This time, we’re looking at the data for criminal cases across
This week, we’re continuing our deep dive into the data on amicus briefs, looking at two questions. First, given that Illinois only ranks midway through the list of states on the frequency of amicus briefs, what areas of law, civil and criminal, are generating amici? And second, for those areas of law, are most amicus
This time, we’re reviewing the same questions on the criminal side that we looked at yesterday on the civil: (1) what areas of law tend to draw the most amicus briefs; and (2) in those areas, do amicus briefs tend to be offensive (filed on behalf of appellants) or defensive (filed in support of appellees)?
This week, we’re digging deeper on the data on for amicus briefs. We’re asking two questions: (1) what areas of law have led to amicus brief filings; and (2) in those areas, are more briefs filed for appellants and appellees? This will shed some light on several questions. First, given that Illinois is roughly in
Today, we’re looking at the amicus filing data on criminal cases for the years 2005 through 2020.
Just as in our earlier period, amicus briefs were few and far between in criminal cases. None were filed in 2005, 2007-2008, 2010 or 2016. Four percent had extra briefs in 2006. That rose to six percent in
When we left off our study, one-third of the Supreme Court’s civil cases were drawing at least one amicus brief. In 2005, 27.08% of civil cases did. That figure rose to 34.69% in 2006 before falling by nearly half but rose back to 31.58% in 2011 and 32.35% in 2013. In 2017, 61.54% of the
Just as we did for civil cases in the last post, we begin by addressing the percentage of criminal cases which drew at least one amicus brief for the years 1990 through 2004.
As we see in Table 1744, the answer is: not many. In 1990, only 2.9% of criminal cases drew at least one
In the past twenty years, several academic researchers have extended the study of amicus briefs to state courts of last resort. In 2001, Professors Paul Brace and Kellie Sims Butler published “New Perspectives for the Comparative Study of the Judiciary: The State Supreme Court Project,” 22 The Justice System Journal 3 (2001). They assembled data
This time, we’re looking at the data for average votes to affirm in cases not affirmed unanimously.
In 2010, Division Four averaged 5.5 votes to affirm in cases not unanimously affirmed. The Second District averaged 2.5 votes and the Fourth averaged 2.33. In 2011, the Third District averaged 3.5 votes and the Fourth averaged three.
This week, we’re wrapping up our analysis of unanimity and votes to affirm in cases not affirmed unanimously. First up, the likelihood, District by District, that civil decisions will be affirmed unanimously for the years 2010 to 2020.
In 2010, 60% of decisions from Division Four of the First were affirmed unanimously, as were half