Tag: state supreme court
-
Two state supreme court justices announce retirement, marking first official vacancies of 2024
Ballotpedia has tracked two state supreme court justice vacancies for 2024. The first state supreme court justice to confirm her retirement in 2024 was Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Elspeth Cypher, who announced in June 2023 that she plans to retire on January 12, 2024. The second to confirm retirement in 2024 was Justice Keith G.…
-
State supreme courts issue 247 opinions from Oct. 9-22
State supreme courts issued 247 opinions from Oct. 9-22. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia led the field with 30 opinions issued, followed by Delaware with 23 and Pennsylvania with 18. The 247 opinions account for 5% of the year-to-date total of 5,339. West Virginia, again, leads with 439 opinions issued since Jan.…
-
Plaintiffs ask Wisconsin Supreme Court to redraw district boundaries
On Oct. 16, attorneys representing a group of Wisconsin voters asked the state supreme court to redraw the state’s legislative district maps before March and require all 2024 elections to be held under the new boundaries. The group of voters originally filed the lawsuit in August alleging that the maps the Legislature approved on April…
-
State supreme courts issue 133 opinions from Sept. 18-24
State supreme courts issued 133 opinions from Sept. 18-24. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia led the field with 32 opinions issued, followed by Georgia with 11, and Montana and Texas with seven each. The 133 opinions account for 3% of the year-to-date total of 4,851. West Virginia, again, leads with 404 opinions…
-
Florida initiative to prohibit abortion restrictions qualifies for state supreme court review
Floridians Protecting Freedom, sponsors of an initiative that would prohibit restrictions on abortions before fetal viability, have submitted 297,586 valid signatures as of Sept. 1, qualifying the proposal for a review by the state supreme court. The initiative would provide that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary…
-
Challenge to election law heads to Texas Supreme Court
On Aug. 15, the Texas attorney general’s office appealed a district judge’s decision blocking SB1750, a bill transferring all powers and duties of the county elections administrator to the county tax assessor-collector and county clerk in counties with a population of more than 3.5 million. District Judge Karin Crump (D) ruled that the law was…
-
State supreme courts have issued 3,842 opinions in 2023
State supreme courts issued 192 opinions in the two week period from July 10 to July 23. The Delaware Supreme Court issued 26 opinions more than any other state, followed by Pennsylvania with 17 and Vermont with 13. The last two weeks’ 192 opinions account for 5% of the year-to-date total of 3,842. West Virginia…
-
2023 sees high percentage of mandatory state supreme court retirements, continuing 2022 trend
In 2022 and the first half of 2023, there was been an uptick in the percentage of mandatory retirements in state supreme courts. From 2019 to 2021, about one in every four retirements were mandated, while the remaining were voluntary. In 2022, there was an increase in the proportion of mandatory retirements, with about one…
-
State supreme courts issue 392 opinions from June 12-25
State supreme courts issued 392 opinions from June 12-25. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia led the field with 82 opinions issued, followed by Kentucky with 31 and Texas (supreme court) with 20. The last two weeks’ 392 opinions account for 12% of the year-to-date total of 3,408. West Virginia, again, leads with…
-
State courts of last resort continue to have majority female justice membership
As of June 2023, 15 out of the 53 courts of last resort in the United States had a female justice majority membership. This is a net increase of one state since 2022, adding California, Illinois, and Utah, while Ohio and Oregon had decreases in their membership of female justices. According to the National Center…