In this month’s state supreme court vacancy update, Ballotpedia tracked announced retirements, nominations, appointments, confirmations, and new justices taking office from November 1 to November 30, 2023. Ballotpedia tracks court vacancies in all 52 state supreme courts. Announced retirements: Two state supreme court justices announced their intention to retire from their state’s highest court in…
State supreme courts issued 108 opinions from Nov. 20-26. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court led the field with 25 opinions issued, followed by New York with 18 and North Dakota with 12. Last week’s 108 opinions account for 2% of the year-to-date total of 6,079. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia leads with 528…
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 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.…
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 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…
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…
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 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…
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…