SCOCAblog, the online publication of the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law and of the UC Law Journal, looks at the California Supreme Court’s 2023.
The blog concludes, “those looking for polarized voting blocs or even a lone dissenter will be disappointed: this court most often operates as a cohesive unit.” It reports that “the court marked the highest unanimity rate in its recent history at 94.23%” and says that “the justices of the court have coalesced into a unified group that rarely sees even small differences of opinion.”
The study also finds that the way the court’s justices are selected “is biased in favor of greater consensus, fewer and shorter opinions, and greater focus on building doctrine.”
Related:
The 2022-2023 term in numbers — Part 1
The 2022-2023 term in numbers — Part 2, and the Supreme Court’s year in review
