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Author: Kedar Bhatia

By on Jun 30, 2012 at 7:59 pm

Our final Stat Pack for October Term 2011 is now available. This edition features many of the same figures that we have been providing for years now, like the Circuit Scorecard, Frequency in the Majority, and Justice Agreement rates, as well as many new additions,...

By on Jun 13, 2012 at 10:03 am
This is another post in an ongoing series analyzing statistical trends at the Court. For a more complete look at the statistics that we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. Stat Pack. This edition of the Stat Pack is updated to include all opinions and orders released to date. You can find it, in its entirety, here. This edition features the following pages: You can also find all of our regularly updated statistics by clicking on the "Statistics" button on the top bar or by clicking here. Circuit Scorecard. The Ninth Circuit continues its streak of contributing more cases to the Term than any other circuit. One third of all cases expected to be decided during OT11 originated in the Ninth Circuit. That number is both higher than any other circuit this Term (the closest competitor is the Third Circuit, which contributed 9% of all cases), but also higher than recent rates of Ninth Circuit dominance.

By on May 31, 2012 at 10:20 am
This is another post in an ongoing series analyzing statistical trends at the Court. For a more complete look at the statistics that we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. Pace of Grants. The Court is well under its normal pace of grants for the current Term. There are currently 15 petitions granted for OT12, plus one case held over from OT11, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.. By the same point in past years, the Court had granted 28 cases (for OT08), 29 cases (for OT09), 24 cases (for OT10), and 19 cases (for OT11). As Tom has mentioned during recent live blogs, Court watchers expect the Justices to significantly increase their pace of grants as the Term wraps up over the next month.

By on Feb 3, 2012 at 10:40 am
This is another post in an ongoing series analyzing statistical trends at the Court. For a more complete look at the statistics that we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. Pace of Opinions. The Court has released opinions at a blistering pace through the first half of October Term 2011. Since John Roberts became the Chief Justice in 2005, the Court has not released more than 19 merits opinions through the end of the January sitting. This year, however, the Court has released 21, including blockbusters United States v. Jones and Perry v. Perez – with the latter taking only 42 days from the Court’s notation of probable jurisdiction to a decision on the merits. The Court is likely to release a mid-major, Florence v. Board of Freeholders, during the February or March sittings.

By on Dec 13, 2011 at 3:00 pm
This is another post in an ongoing series analyzing statistical trends at the Court. For a more complete look at the statistics that we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. With the Term approaching the half-way point, we have taken another look at how the Court and the bar are moving through the cases that have been granted, argued, and decided during October Term 2011. The Court has docketed 69 cases for oral argument, heard argument in 36 of those, and released 4 summary reversals. The Court’s workload: With 69 cases scheduled for oral argument, the Court is set to comfortably fill its typical oral argument schedule. In past years, the Court has decided 70-75 cases with a signed, merits opinion. The Court is expected to grant a handful of cases during the January sitting, some of which may be argued during the April sitting. Extended oral arguments in the health care cases could mean that the Court will hear a slightly lower number of cases during the March sitting than it does in most years.

By on Oct 4, 2011 at 9:50 am
This is the first post in a series analyzing statistical trends at the Supreme Court. For a more complete look at the statistics we collect on the Court, you can find all of our up-to-date charts and graphs here. The Supreme Court has now granted just over half the cases that it is likely to hear during October Term 2011, so it seems like as good a time as any to begin breaking down the cases that have been accepted for review. The Court has granted 49 total petitions, but one was dismissed under Rule 46 soon after it was granted, so we will use 48 as the total. The Court’s workload: With 48 cases on the docket for OT2011, the Court is in good shape moving into the fall. During the Roberts Court, the Court has typically had between 45-55 cases on the docket following the Long Conference, and the current pace should allow it to grant cases at its own pace through January to fill the Term. The Court remains on pace after granting only seven cases at the Long Conference because it granted an unusually high number of cases at the final June conference – 13.