In the September issue of California Lawyer magazine, Santa Clara University law professors Gerald Uelmen and Kyle Graham assess the California Supreme Court’s performance during fiscal 2013-2014 (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014). In that period, they report, the Court decided 89 cases (32 civil matters, 26 death penalty cases, 38 non-capital criminal cases and three State Bar matters). With respect to the civil cases—the focus of this blog—the Court split 4-3 three times, split 5-2 five times, and split 6-1 twice. The Court thus issued 22 unanimous civil decisions last year. The overall dissent rate (including criminal cases) was 4.5 percent, nearly double the all-time low of 2.3 percent witnessed during Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s first year at the helm in 2010-2011, but significantly below last year’s robust dissent rate of 6.1 percent.
Uelmen and Graham report that Justice Goodwin Liu authored the most separate opinions, with 14 concurrences and four dissents. This is not surprising, given the importance he ascribes to writing separately, a topic we have discussed in the past. Justice Joyce Kennard, who retired in early April, wrote nearly as many separate opinions as Justice Liu (in less time) and stayed true to her record by penning the most dissents, with eight (she also wrote nine concurrences). The Chief and Justice Ming Chin tied for the authorship of the most majority opinions, with 15 apiece.
Looking forward, Uelmen and Graham note that, in light of Justice Kennard’s retirement and Justice Marvin Baxter’s recent announcement that he will not seek reelection in November, Governor Brown now has “the opportunity to reshape the high court with a less conservative majority.” They predict that “[t]he coming year will see the emergence of a dramatically different California Supreme Court.” That new Court is already taking shape with the recent confirmation of Governor Brown’s nominee, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, as the Court’s newest justice, subject to approval by the voters in November.
