Yesterday, we began our comparative review of the Illinois and California Supreme Court’s experience with direct review of death penalty judgments.  Today, we reach the second half of our first analysis – how often did the Illinois Supreme Court reverse death judgments?

In Table 529, we report the reversal rate, divided into three classes –

This week, we begin a dual project on the Illinois Supreme Court Review and the California Supreme Court Review – comparing the two states’ experience with automatic appeals of death penalty verdicts.

Illinois has had a tumultuous recent history with death penalty verdicts.  Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in 1999, citing concern

Yesterday, we began our review of the Court’s experience with recusals in criminal cases.  Today, we conclude our review with a look at the most recent years.

First, let’s look at the importance of recusals in criminal cases for the years 2006 through 2011 – how often did recusals end up with the prevailing party

Last week, we tracked the Court’s experience, year by year, with recusals in civil cases.  Recusals are potentially a serious issue in Illinois Supreme Court practice, since there’s no provision for replacing recused Justices with pro tem Justices, and there must be four votes for the Court to decide the case.

This week, we turn

Yesterday, we began reviewing the data regarding the Court’s experience with recusals in civil cases, and how often recusals lead to the Court being closely divided in its decision.  Today, we proceed to Part 2 of our analysis – the years 2006 through 2017.

In Table 518, we review the number of votes for the

Last week, we reviewed the Court’s experience with certified questions from the Seventh Circuit.  This week, we begin our look at a different question: the Court’s history with recusals.

Recusals are particularly important on the Illinois Supreme Court because unlike the other Court we follow, the California Supreme Court, there is no provision for replacing

Over the past couple of weeks over at the California Supreme Court Review, we’ve been analyzing the California Supreme Court’s experience with certified questions.  So today, we turn our attention to the same issue: how often does the Illinois Supreme Court decide certified questions?

The Court’s certified question docket is governed by Supreme Court