The New York Court of Appeals issued four opinions from March 13-19. As of March 19, the court issued 13 opinions in 2023 — seven fewer than this point a year ago. The four opinions are below:
- Lemieux v. Horn, where the court affirmed the appellate division’s ruling that “the defendant established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment and plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact whether he suffered a serious injury within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d) as a result of the accident.”
- People v. Regan, where the court reversed a defendant’s conviction of rape in the first degree because the defendant’s constitutional right to prompt prosecution was violated.
- People v. Guerra, where the court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the victim’s prior violent acts could not be submitted to the jury as evidence of initial aggression.
- Casey v. Whitehouse Estates, Inc., where “the order of the Appellate Division insofar as appealed from should be reversed, with costs, plaintiffs’ motion insofar as it sought summary judgment declaring that their legal regulated rent should be calculated according to the Rent Stabilization Code’s default formula denied, the case remitted to Supreme Court for further proceedings in accordance with this memorandum, and the certified question answered in the negative.”
From March 13-19, state supreme courts issued 142 opinions nationally. The Hawaii Supreme Court issued the most with 25. State supreme courts in 18 states issued the fewest with zero. Courts where judges are elected have issued 68 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 74.
The State of New York Court of Appeals is the state’s court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current acting chief of the court is Anthony Cannataro. The court issued 85 opinions in 2022 and 69 in 2021. Nationally, state supreme courts issued 7,423 opinions in 2022 and 8,320 in 2021. The courts have issued 1,366 opinions in 2023. Courts where judges are elected have issued 729 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 637. New York is a Democratic trifecta, meaning Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.
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