• Washington Supreme Court Statistics 2010
• Washington Supreme Court Statistics 2009

In 2011, the Supreme Court of Washington issued opinions in 117 cases, down from 140 in 2010. The Court continues to enjoy a high level of agreement: 59 percent of all decisions were unanimous (including unanimous-in-result-only opinions and per curiam opinions). This is up from 54 percent in 2010.

Chief Justice Barbara Madsen was the most prolific writer this year, with 35 total opinions. Debra Stephens came in second with 27 opinions. wrote the most majority opinions (23). Susan Owens wrote the most majority opinions (17) as well as the most unanimous opinions (9). Owens and Mary Fairhurst were in the majority in 93.6 percent of all cases they participated in.

Looking at the rates of agreement between justices, the justices who agreed with each other most often were Charles Wiggins and Madsen (96.3%), Wiggins and Fairhurst (92.7%) and Wiggins and Stephens (92.7%). The justices with the lowest rates of agreement were Tom Chambers and Jim Johnson (73.1%), Chambers and Madsen (74.3), and Jim Johnson and Stephens 75.7%).

The Court had a change in 2011, with Charlie Wiggins replacing former Justice Richard Sanders. Wiggins only participated in 55 of the cases with an opinion this year; while Sanders served as a temporary justice on 52 cases. In that time Sanders wrote two majorities, one concurrence, and seven dissents.  

*Excludes partial dissents.

 *Including concurring votes
**Analysis is limited to signed opinions
***Including unanimous in result

*Unanimous in result only (concurrence or partial dissent filed)

*Unanimous in result only

(Note: Feel free to use any of these numbers, but please credit the Supreme Court of Washington Blog.)

Nevertheless, as we analyzed several key factors from 2010, one justice clearly left an imprint. Relying on our 2010 court roundup, we reviewed majority decisions written, frequency of appearing in the majority, rate of agreement with other members, number of votes received in support of opinions authored, and other criteria. The members of the Washington Supreme Court are a respectable bunch, but this year presented a runaway winner.

So with no further fanfare, the Supreme Court of Washington Blog’s choice for the most influential justice in 2010 is Justice Debra L. Stephens. Justice Stephens was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Gregoire in 2008 after serving on the Court of Appeals (Div. 3). Her biography can be found here.

In just three years, Stephens has proven to be a prolific author and a frequent representative of the court’s thinking. In 2010, she wrote more majority decisions (23) than any other justice. Stephens also wrote the most unanimous opinions last year (13). She voted in the majority in 91.9% of cases decided, second only to Justice Charles Johnson, who was in the majority 92.4% of the time. Stephens enjoyed a high rate of agreement with her colleagues, with other justices voting with her position in 81% of cases—just a fraction behind Charles Johnson (81.5%).

Those numbers alone might simply indicate an agreeable judge who is not willing to stick out her neck. But Stephens is a strong coalition builder, frequently joined by her colleagues when authoring an opinion. When she writes an opinion—whether a majority, concurrence or dissent—she pulls votes to her position, more than any other justice by a wide margin. Stephens led the court in votes concurring in her majority opinions (144), as well as total votes when her concurrences and dissents are included (154).

Perhaps the most significant factor is that Stephens is a key vote in close decisions. In 2010, the Supreme Court issued 22 decisions that were decided by a 5-4 vote. Stephens wrote the most 5-4 majority opinions (6), and had the most majority votes (15) in 5-4 cases. She was in the majority a whopping 75% in 5-4 cases (Justices Tom Chambers and Charles Johnson were both a distant second at 64%).

Lawyers and other court watchers love to identify the key judges who must be persuaded in order for a party to win the case. Justice Stephens appears to be that vote at the Temple of Justice.

This year we try to crack the question: Which justice was the most influential in 2010? We’ll announce our pick later today on Wednesday.

First, some general observations. In 2010 the Supreme Court of Washington issued opinions in 140 cases. Nine opinions were per curiam (opinions without an attributed author), a significant increase from last year, which had none. The Court enjoys a high level of agreement: 75 opinions (54% of all cases) were unanimous (including unanimous-in-result-only opinions and per curiam opinions).

Justice Richard Sanders was the most prolific writer this year, with 48 total opinions. Despite her new chief justice duties, Barbara Madsen came in second with 32 total opinions. Justice Debra Stephens wrote the most majority opinions (23). As was the case in 2009, Sanders wrote the most dissents (24) but he also contributed the second-most majorities (17).

Which justices are most likely to agree or disagree with each other? A chart below shows the percentage of cases in which justices voted together (majority and concurring opinions are treated as equivalent). The justices with the highest rates of agreement were Charles Johnson and Owens (89.1%), Chambers and Stephens (87%), and Charles Johnson and Stephens (85.8%). The justices with the lowest rates of agreement were Madsen and Sanders (62.8%), Sanders and Jim Johnson (64.3%), and Sanders and Fairhurst (65.1%).

We also look at the number of days between argument and the court's opinion, broken out by vote count. The rule of thumb is the court takes about six months to issue a decision after hearing arguments. On average, the court took 203 days (down from last year's 223) to issue opinions in the cases where arguments were heard. Fifteen decisions in 2010 were pending for over a year, while 18 cases were disposed of in less than three months. One case, In re Welfare of A.B., which dealt with the restoration of parental rights, sat for 716 days (nearly 24 months) before being resolved.

Finally, we have a chart showing how often each justice was joined by his or her colleagues when authoring an opinion. In other words, when a justice wrote a majority opinion, how many others joined that opinion? Was the dissenter able to pull others to the dissent, or was it a lone dissent? 

<Click to see the charts and tables>

*Excludes partial dissents
**Justice Pro Tem Dean Morgan

*Includes concurring votes.
**Excludes per curiam opinions.
***Includes unanimous in result.

*Unanimous in result only (concurrence or partial dissent filed).

 
*Unanimous in result only.

(Note: Feel free to use any of these numbers, but we'd appreciate it if you would cite the Supreme Court of Washington Blog as the source.)

On average, the court took 223 days (31 weeks) to issue opinions in the cases where arguments were heard. Fifteen decisions in 2009 were pending for over a year, while 20 cases were disposed of in less than three months. One case, State v. Wright, which dealt with double jeopardy, sat for 674 days (96 weeks) before being resolved.

UPDATE: More numbers inspired by the comments below. Here is the average time from argument to decision based on who authored the majority opinion.

Also, the average wait based on the case's vote split.

 Number of Opinions by Justice 

The workload for 2009 was fairly evenly distributed. Soon-to-be Chief Justice Barbara Madsen was the most prolific writer this year, with 18 majority opinions and 39 total opinions. Justice Richard Sanders is the most frequent dissenter, writing nearly three times as many dissents as any other justice (including a dissent to his own majority opinion). As is common for the chief justice, Gerry Alexander wrote fewer opinions because of the additional administrative duties his position requires. Justice Debra Stephens participated in the fewest decisions as she joined the court after many of the cases had been argued, but she still managed to author the second-most majority opinions this year.

Frequency of Agreement between Justices

Ever wonder which justices agree with each other most frequently? The above chart documents the percentage of cases in which justices are on the same side of an opinion (majority and concurring opinions are treated as equivalent). The justices with the highest rates of agreement were Madsen and Fairhurst (88%), Chambers and Stephens (88%), and Owens and Fairhurst (88%). The justices with the lowest rates of agreement were Sanders and Fairhurst (66%), and Sanders and Jim Johnson (64%).

Frequency in the Majority 

*Including concurring votes

Number of Decisions by Vote Count

Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, which sees many narrow 5-4 decisions, the state Supreme Court enjoys a number of strong majority opinions, with nearly half of its rulings unanimous or 9-0 in the outcome. Justices will frequently concur in the result of an opinion, while employing a separate rationale for reaching his or her conclusion.

Coming Soon: the court's noteworthy opinions from 2009.

(Note: Feel free to use these numbers, but we'd appreciate if you'd cite the Supreme Court of Washington Blog as the source.)

 A few trends are worth noting in the charts below.

 Number of Opinions by Justice 

 (more after the jump)

Frequency in the Majority 

*Including concurring votes
**Including cases that were unanimous in results only

Number of Decisions by Vote Count

A few observations:

Justice Debra Stephens did not participate in a number of cases where she joined the court after the case was argued, or cases in which she participated as a judge on the Court of Appeals before she was elevated to the Supreme Court. Even so, the court's junior member has been busy, writing 10 majority opinions this year -- the most for any justice (a position she shares with Justice Tom Chambers, who also wrote ten).

Justice Barbara Madsen takes top marks as the most prolific justice, writing 22 opinions so far, while Justice Richard Sanders continues to enjoy his role as the court's inveterate dissenter. Sanders authored eight dissenting opinions, including a case where he dissented to his own opinion. (The case, State v. Daniels, was decided in 2007, with Sanders as the majority author. The Ninth Circuit subsequently ruled on a similar issue, but reached the opposite conclusion. The state Supreme Court granted a motion for reconsideration in Daniels, but upheld Sanders' original ruling, with Sanders dissenting.) 

Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, which sees many narrow 5-4 decisions, the state Supreme Court enjoys a number of strong majority opinions, with nearly half of its rulings unanimous or 9-0 in the outcome. Justices will frequently concur in the result of an opinion, while employing a separate rationale for reaching his or her conclusion.

(Note: Feel free to use these numbers, but we'd appreciate if you'd cite the Supreme Court of Washington Blog as the source.)