The website SCOTUSBLOG has posted its Annual Supreme Court Stat Pack for the 2014 Term. You can access the whole thing here. 52 pages of stats!
Here are a few stats that jumped out at me.
There were 16 cases from the 9th Circuit – out of 74 total. The Supremes affirmed the 9th Circuit six times and reversed 10 times.
Nineteen cases out of 74 were decided 5-4. That’s 26% of the cases.
Total cases decided in 1990 was 150. Throughout the 2000s, the total has been right around 75.
Of all the cases decided, Breyer was in the majority 92% of the time (the highest %), Thomas, 61% (the lowest).
Of the 5-4 decisions (19 in total), eight times the majority was Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagen – i.e., the “liberal” faction.
Of the 5-4 decisions, five time the majority was Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito, i.e., the “conservative” faction.
On all of the cases, Breyer agreed with Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagen 94% of the time (the highest agreement rate). Thomas and Sotomayor agreed only 50% of the time (the lowest).
Of the cases that were not unanimous, Breyer agreed with Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagen 91% of the time. Thomas and Sotomayor agreed only 16% of the time.
Scalia asked the most questions during the term, 22 per case.
Pretty fun stuff!