United States Supreme Court—Review of 2005-2006 Term

In the wake of the fiery conclusion of the 2005-2006 United States Supreme Court term, cooler heads, including the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, have compiled statistical assessments regarding the Court’s output.^[1] Some of the more interesting numbers are listed below.

• Number of cases decided: 72 (this number represents a drop from the previous year and may correspond with a second annual drop in the number of filings, as reported for 2005 in last January’s Report on the Federal Judiciary.^[2] The 2006 report noted a specific drop in the number of criminal cases submitted to the Court from 2004 to 2005.) ^[3]
  
• Number of unanimous decisions: 37 (51%)^[4]
  
• Number of 5-4 decisions: 17 (24%)^[5]
  
• Number of dissents: 35 (49%)^[6]
  
• Number of reversals/decisions vacated: 51 (71%)^[7]
  
• Number of cases accepted on review from federal court decisions: 57 (80%)^[8]
  
• Most reviewed federal circuit court: 9th Circuit (14 cases decided, 11 reversed)
  
• Most prolific “bare majority” opinion writer: Justice Antonin Scalia, 4 (23%) ^[9]
  
• Most prolific controlling concurrence writer: Justice Anthony Kennedy, 3^[10]
  
• Most prolific dissent writer: Justice John Paul Stevens, 19 (54%)^[11]
  
• Most agreeable justice: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (no dissenting opinions in the 24 decisions in which she participated)
  
• Most reversed justice: Chief Justice John Roberts (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld)
  
• Most like‑minded justices: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito (voted together in 91 percent of all cases and 88 percent of non-unanimous cases) ^[12]

Senator Edward Kennedy offered his own assessment of the voting records for first‑termers Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito in an op‑ed published this weekend in the Washington Post.^[13] In it, the Senator noted the synchronicity in voting patterns between the two men and charged that the numbers (and specific opinions) reveal hidden agendas to “erode civil liberties, decrease the rights of minorities and limit environmental protections…expand the power of the president, reduce restrictions on abusive police tactics and approve federal intrusion into issues traditionally governed by state law.”^[14] In Senator Kennedy’s opinion, the confirmation process is responsible for tilting the scales of justice.

As of June 26, 2006, the Supreme Court has accepted 29 cases for argument in the upcoming term.^[15]

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[1] Roundup for the 2005-06 Term, On the Docket, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, July 6, 2006 [hereinafter Roundup].
[2] 2005 Year‑End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Jan. 1, 2006, submitted by the Office of the Chief Justice.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id. Justices Kennedy and Souter wrote 3 each; Justices Ginsberg, Stevens and Roberts wrote 2 each; Justice Thomas wrote 1; Justices Alito and Breyer wrote none.
[10] Id. The decisions were some of weightiest: : Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. ____ (2006) (U.S. military tribunals), Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. ____ (2006) (knock‑and‑announce rule), and Rapanos v. U.S., 547 U.S. ____ (2006) (Clean Water Act).
[11] Roundup supra note 1.
[12] Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Roberts and Alito Misled Us, Washington Post, July 30, 2006. Scotusblog.com provides links to several rebuttals to Sen. Kennedy’s arguments from the legal blogosphere. At the time of this post, none had questioned the statistical conclusions.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Supreme Court of the United States Granted & Noted List, June 26, 2006.