Last time, we reviewed the year-by-year percentage of the Supreme Court’s civil caseload that is drawn from Appellate Court cases with a dissenter to evaluate the claim that a petition for leave to appeal from a unanimous decision is a hopeless exercise. This time, we’re looking at the Court’s criminal cases. Just like last time,
Last week, we addressed the frequently heard claim that seeking Supreme Court review of an unpublished decision from the Appellate Court is a hopeless task. This week, we’re addressing a similar claim – that the Supreme Court doesn’t review unanimous decisions. Below, we’ll address the data from civil cases, and in our next post, we’ll
Last time, we demonstrated that notwithstanding the frequently heard claim that seeking review of a Rule 23 (unpublished) decision from the Appellate Court is a hopeless task, anywhere from ten to forty percent of the Court’s civil docket has consisted of Rule 23 orders for the past thirty years. So what about criminal cases?
Like most sectors of the bar, there are certain items of “conventional wisdom” in the appellate bar that everyone has heard (or said themselves). In both Illinois and California, one of those claims is that it’s pointless to seek Supreme Court review of a decision that wasn’t published by the lower court. After all, if
Average votes to affirm for criminal cases from the Fifth District in 1990 was 4.22. The average was 5.5 in 1991, 0.6 in 1992, 2 in 1993, 3.2 in 1994, 7 in 1995, 4.33 in 1996, 4.67 in 1997, 2.33 in 1998 and 4 in 1999.
Average votes to affirm was 3.75 in 2000, 7
Today, we’re reviewing the yearly average votes to affirm decisions of the Fourth District in criminal cases. The average votes to affirm was zero in 1990, 7 in 1991, 5.25 in 1992, 2.33 in 1993, 4.25 in 1994, 2 in 1995, 1.33 in 1996, 2.56 in 1997, 5.5 in 1998 and 0.67 in 1999.
Average
The average votes to affirm the Third District in criminal cases decided by the Supreme Court in 1990 was 2.25. The average was 2.86 in 1991, 1 in 1992, 4.67 in 1993, 3.5 in 1994, 3.8 in 1995, 3.33 in 1996, 1.17 in 1997, 1 in 1998 and 4 in 1999.
The average was 3.75
This time, as we continue our series tracking average votes to affirm every District and Division of the Appellate Court in criminal cases, we review the data on Second District cases.
The 1990s began at a low point for Second District cases, with an average votes to affirm of only 0.25. In 1991, average votes
The Court decided no criminal cases from Division Six of the First District in 1990, 1994 or 1997. Average votes to affirm Division Six was 3.5 in 1991, zero in 1992, 7 in 1993, 3.5 in 1995, 6 in 1996, zero in 1998 and 1 in 1999.
The Court decided no criminal cases from Division
In 1990, average votes to affirm Division Five of the First District in criminal cases was 6.5. From there, the average fell sharply: 2.5 in 1991, 1.75 in 1992, 3 in 1994 and 1 in 1995. In 1996, average votes to affirm was 4. There were no criminal cases from Division Five in 1993, 1997