In 1990, 79.71% of the Court’s criminal cases were unanimous. That rose to 75.86% in 1991, 82.61% in 1992 and 83.72% in 1993. But then the unanimity rate fell: 61.54% (1994), 59.49% (1995), 68.52% (1996), 60.32% (1997), 69.44% (1998) and only 45.28% in 1999.

In 2000, only 27.91% of the Court’s criminal decisions were unanimous.

This week and next, we’re looking at the distribution of the Court’s civil and criminal cases – unanimous decisions and one, two and three dissenters (for these purposes, we’re defining a “dissenter” as anyone who votes against the Court’s judgment, regardless of whether he or she signs or joins a written dissent).

The unanimity percentage