Merrill Balassone, with Public Affairs at the Judicial Council, has posted a summary of highlights and statistics for the most recently completed Supreme Court term, from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019.

Some statistical highlights:

  • The court issued 75 opinions.  22 were in automatic direct death penalty appeals or capital habeas corpus proceedings, 31 were in civil cases, and 22 were in non-capital criminal cases.
  • “[T]he court considered nearly 7,200 filings, including about 3,900 petitions for review.”
  • The court “resolved 16 capital habeas corpus petitions,” but transferred 121 others to superior courts under Proposition 66.
  • “The court acted on 68 requests for pardons or commutations, the vast majority during former Gov. Jerry Brown’s final weeks in office.  Of those, the court declined to allow clemency in 10 matters — the first rejections in many decades.”
  • The court depublished 19 Court of Appeal opinions.