Early last year, we founded the Illinois Supreme Court Review to bring rigorous, law-review style empirical research founded on data analytic techniques to the study of appellate decision making. Today, we expand our focus with the California Supreme Court Review, a new blog devoted to sharing insights culled from tens of thousands of pages
Reversal Rates for the Appellate Courts in Criminal Cases, 2006-2010
Yesterday, we reviewed the rate at which the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the Districts and Divisions of the Appellate Court in civil cases between 2006 and 2010. Today, we turn to the criminal docket.
The Court’s overall reversal rate in criminal cases increased somewhat in our study period. Between 2000 and 2005, the reversal rate
Reversal Rates for the Appellate Courts in Civil Cases, 2006-2010
Last week, we began our examination of the Illinois Supreme Court’s reversal rate for the various Districts and Divisions of the Appellate Court, contrasting the reversal rate in civil cases with the criminal docket. Today, we take the second step in that analysis, addressing the years 2006-2010.
In Table 268 below, we see the overall
Reversal Rates for the Appellate Courts in Criminal Cases, 2000-2005
Yesterday, we began a comprehensive review of the data regarding reversal rates for the Appellate Courts at the Illinois Supreme Court with civil cases between 2000 and 2005. Today, we turn to reversal rates in criminal cases.
In Table 265, we report the statewide reversal rate in criminal cases. We saw yesterday that statewide reversal
Reversal Rates for the Appellate Courts in Civil Cases, 2000-2005
Sooner or later, every discussion of Supreme Court statistics turns to the rates at which the appellate courts are reversed. It’s been a frequent political football nationally, with politicians praising or condemning one Circuit or another based on the percentage of their cases reversed by the Supreme Court. It’s a frequent subject of conventional wisdom
The Illinois Supreme Court’s Dissent Rate in Death Penalty Appeals from 2000 to 2011
For the past two weeks, we’ve been considering the Illinois Supreme Court’s rate of unanimity and dissent in civil and criminal cases between 2000 and 2015. Today, we address a related historical issue. Until 2011, when the state of Illinois abolished the death penalty, appeals in death cases were heard in the first instance at
How Often is the Illinois Supreme Court Sharply Divided in Criminal Cases (2000-2015)?
Last week, we began reviewing the data for the Illinois Supreme Court’s unanimity and dissent rates in civil and criminal cases between 2000 and 2015. We also considered how many of the non-unanimous civil decisions qualified as “lopsided” – meaning that they featured only one dissenter. Today, we consider the rate of lopsided decisions on
The Illinois Supreme Court’s Dissent Rate in Criminal Cases, 2000-2015
Yesterday, we addressed the Illinois Supreme Court’s rate of unanimous and near-unanimous opinions in civil cases. Today, we turn to the criminal docket.
In Table 257 below, we report the overall data for the criminal docket. For the years 2000 through 2003 – years in which the Court was split five Democrats to two Republicans
The Illinois Supreme Court’s Dissent Rate in Civil Cases, 2000-2015
Last week, we addressed whether the lag time between oral argument and the Illinois Supreme Court’s decisions is an accurate predictor of dissent for the Court’s civil and criminal dockets. Today, we turn to a different question: the Supreme Court’s unanimity rate.
We report the Court’s rate of unanimous civil decisions in Table 255 below.
Are Sharply Divided Criminal Cases Under Submission for Longer Than Lopsided Cases?
Yesterday, we continued our analysis of the Illinois Supreme Court’s time under submission from 2008 to the end of 2015, looking at whether unanimous decisions are generally under submission for substantially less time than non-unanimous ones. Today, we address the year-by-year data for the criminal docket. The numbers demonstrate that although, all things being equal,