Welcome to the Aug. 25 edition of Robe & Gavel, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S.

I remember, I remember,

The fir trees dark and high;

I used to think their slender tops

Were close against the sky:

It was a childish ignorance,

But now ’tis little joy

To know I’m farther off from heav’n

Than when I was a boy.

-Thomas Hood

I Remember, I Remember

We’re so excited to bring you a special edition of Robe & Gavel, where we’ll take a look at this past SCOTUS term and review some stats on the court’s opinions. Let’s gavel in! 

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Grants

SCOTUS has accepted no new cases to its merits docket since our Aug. 12 issue. To date, the court has agreed to hear 32 cases for the 2025-2026 term. Nineteen of these cases have been scheduled for arguments.

Federal court action

Nominations

President Donald Trump (R) has announced six new Article III nominees since our Aug. 12 edition.

• Bill Lewis, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
• Robert Chamberlin, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
• Rebecca Taibleson, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Edmund LaCour, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• Jimmy Maxwell, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
• Harold Mooty, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

The president has announced 23 Article III judicial nominations since taking office Jan. 20, 2021. For more information on the president’s judicial nominees, click here.

Committee action

The Senate Judiciary Committee has not reported any new nominees out of committee since our Aug. 12 edition.

Confirmations

The Senate has not confirmed any nominees since our Aug. 12 issue.

Vacancies

The federal judiciary currently has 49 vacancies, 48 of which are for lifetime Article III judgeships. As of publication, there were 10 pending nominations.

According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, there were 10 upcoming vacancies in the federal judiciary, where judges have announced their intention to leave active judicial status.

For more information on judicial vacancies during President Trump’s term, click here.

Do you love judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? We figured you might. Our monthly Federal Vacancy Count monitors all the faces and places moving in, moving out, and moving on in the federal judiciary. Click here for our most current count.

Need a daily fix of judicial nomination, confirmation, and vacancy information? Click here for continuing updates on the status of all federal judicial nominees.

Or, keep an eye on our list for updates on federal judicial nominations.

Looking back at the SCOTUS terms

This section covers cases granted where SCOTUS reversed a lower court’s ruling. Original jurisdiction cases cannot be considered affirmed or reversed since SCOTUS is the first and only court that rules in the case.

Information from 2007 to 2021 was compiled from end-of-term data from SCOTUSblog. Information for the October 2022 and 2023 terms were compiled from our Supreme Court cases, October term 2022-2023 and Supreme Court cases, October term 2023-2024 pages, sourced from the court. Information from the 2024-2025 term was compiled from end-of-term data from SCOTUSblog.

October 2024-2025 term

SCOTUS issued opinions in 67 cases during its October 2024-2025 term. This does not include three cases that were dismissed. SCOTUS reversed 47 lower court decisions (74.6%) and affirmed 16 decisions (25.4%).

The average reversal rate since 2007 is 71.4%. Thirteen of the October 2024 term cases originated in the Fifth Circuit, the most from any circuit (including state courts).

Reversal rates (2007-present)

Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in 1,313 cases. 

• It reversed a lower court decision 938 times (71.4%) while affirming a lower court decision 363 times (27.6%). 
• SCOTUS decided more cases originating from the Ninth Circuit (247) than from any other circuit. The second most number of cases the court decided originated in the Fifth Circuit (118).
• SCOTUS overturned a greater number and percentage of cases originating from the Ninth Circuit (196, or 79%) than any other U.S. circuit court.

*CA stands for Court of Appeals. 

Frequency in the majority

In the October 2024-2025 term, Chief Justice John Roberts was in the majority in 95% of decisions, the most of any justice. Justice Brett Kavanaugh has the second-highest frequency in the majority at 92%, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had the lowest frequency in the majority at 72%.

Federal courts recent news

• Supreme Court allows Trump administration to terminate $783 million in NIH grants linked to DEI initiatives (SCOTUSblog)
• Will the Supreme Court revisit its ruling on same-sex marriage? (SCOTUSblog)

Looking ahead

We’ll be back on Sept. 8 with a new edition of Robe & Gavel. Until then, gaveling out! 

Contributions

Myj Saintyl compiled and edited this newsletter, with contributions from Sam Post and Ellie Mikus.