What Are My Chances? Federal Courts of Appeal by the Numbers

This article gives lawyers and their clients some statistics about the chances of success in the 11th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. It shows how often appeals are successful and compares these courts to others. It also looks at how often the Supreme Court agrees to hear cases and how the justices tend to vote. It also mentions a study about how political beliefs affect the decisions of federal courts. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had 6,699 cases in 2010 and 6,290 cases in 2011. It has the third-highest caseload compared to other courts of appeal. The court terminated 6,833 cases in 2010 and 6,279 cases in 2011. It had 3,680 civil cases and 1,501 criminal cases in the 12 months ending in March 2011. The Fifth Circuit had the second-highest caseload, and the Ninth Circuit had the highest caseload. In the 11th Circuit, there were 1,018 cases involving the U.S. government as a defendant, with 513 of them involving sentences. Most cases were related to federal laws, with drug offenses making up a big portion of criminal cases. The 11th Circuit reversed only a small percentage of cases, showing that most appeals are not successful. The chances of a case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court are also very low. Every November, the Harvard Law Review publishes stats from the Supreme Court’s prior term. In the 2010 term, the Court got 7,868 petitions and accepted only 90 or 1.1 percent of them. They also made quick decisions on 82 other petitions. When it came to reviewing the petitions, the Court accepted more paid petitions than those from people who couldn’t afford a lawyer. This might be because they think that people who can’t afford a lawyer don’t have important cases or because the cases they bring up aren’t likely to be accepted. The Supreme Court has a lot more cases to decide now than it did in the past. Some people think this is because of a decision called Gideon v. Wainwright. Justices Scalia and Kennedy wrote the most opinions, while Justice Kagan wrote the fewest. Justices Ginsburg and Kagan agreed the most, while Justices Thomas and Ginsburg disagreed the most. Getting the Supreme Court to review a case is really hard, especially if you can’t afford to pay for it. After analyzing the decisions of federal appellate courts, researchers found that the political background of the judges can influence their decisions in certain types of cases, such as abortion, affirmative action, and discrimination. However, the effect is less pronounced in criminal appeals, federalism, and takings. Additionally, at the trial court level, judges’ political background had little impact on their decisions in civil rights cases. Overall, the study suggests that judges may be influenced by their colleagues’ political backgrounds, but they ultimately base their decisions on the law. The first source is from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, which provides information about the federal court system. The second and third sources are tables that show the number of appeals filed and resolved in the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The data is compiled every year until March 31. The fourth and fifth sources provide detailed statistics about the nature of cases and appeals terminated on the merits in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. The sixth source is an email from the administrative office. The seventh source explains that the D.C. Circuit has the lowest percentage of cases, but the difference is not clear due to rounding. Other sources include articles and studies about the Supreme Court’s caseload and the denial of petitions based on financial status. The Supreme Court hears fewer cases because of ideological voting, trading votes for reasoning, and the influence of judicial background on case outcomes. This information comes from various legal journals and studies.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/what-are-my-chances-federal-courts-of-appeal-by-the-numbers/