We and SCOCAblog have written about the California Supreme Court in recent years holding fewer oral arguments — and thus issuing fewer opinions — than in the past. Now, Katie Buehler has this for Law360: “[U.S.] Supreme Court Caseload Hits 160-Year Low.”
Buehler says, “Not since the Civil War has the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in as few cases as it will this term,” agreeing “to hear oral arguments in 64 individual cases this October term.” That’s “well below the average 75 cases per term the Supreme Court has been reviewing since Chief Justice John Roberts took the helm in 2005.” The article reports, “Court watchers said the justices have grown accustomed to smaller caseloads and are pickier than past courts when it comes to deciding which circuit splits or procedural issues to resolve, often leaving important but mundane questions of law unanswered while opting to tackle hot-button issues.”
As opposed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 64 oral arguments, the California high court is currently on pace to hear only 39 or 40 arguments during its 2025–2026 term. That’s likely to increase a bit because the court has been having larger later calendars, a recent trend (see here), but a departure from a policy instituted in 2016-2017, when the court decided to have its calendars more evenly balanced throughout the term instead of backloading cases.
Is the California court’s lower opinion output a concern? Only if the court is being too picky in deciding which cases to hear or if it’s taking too long to hear those cases it has already agreed to hear.
Related:
A partially new list of old cases
The Supreme Court doesn’t decide all important issues
“What’s ailing the California Supreme Court? Its productivity has plummeted”
“SCOCA is spending more time writing fewer and longer decisions”
