"Justice delayed, justice denied": the fastest gun in the East (or at least on the Supreme Court).

• Author: Schultz, David

"Justice delayed, justice denied" is an ancient legal maxim. Its impact has been profound, including upon recent Supreme Court Justices. For example, in Steel Company v. Citizens for a Better Environment,(1) Justice Scalia's majority opinion noted that the increased caseload of appellate and districts courts was creating a more "cumbersome system" that ran the risk of "justice delayed, justice denied." In Clinton v. Jones,(2) the Court also echoed the views of the Eighth Circuit (which actually recited this maxim(3)) in holding that a sitting president of the United States could face a civil suit while in office.

In examining the importance of the legal maxim "justice delayed, justice denied" to the Court, one is prompted to ask: What have individual Justices done to expedite justice? By that, I mean how long does it take an individual Justice to render an opinion after oral argument? Phrased otherwise, who is the fastest opinion writer on the Court?

Data was gathered from the 1995-1997 Supreme Court terms to answer this question. For each Justice in each term, what was measured was the average number of days between oral arguments and the date the opinion was announced. The surprising results of this contest for top gun are reflected in Figure 1 (as well as in Table IV).

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Table IV Days to Decide 1995-1997 Terms Rank Order

Justice Days to Decide Stevens 124.6 Kennedy 112.8 Thomas 105.4 Court 98.6 O'Connor 96.6 Scalia 95.7 Rehnquist 95.3 Breyer 90.2 Souter 87.3 Ginsburg 73.9 These data were then broken down further, with the results reflected in the tables at the end of this essay. According to Table I, for the 1995 term, Justice Ginsburg was the fastest draw, followed by Souter and then Scalia. Pulling up the rear were Stevens--who was dead last--and then the Chief Justice.

Table I Days to Decide Cases 1995 Term

Number of Days to Justice Opinions Decide Case Rehnquist 9 100.4 Stevens 8 131.1 O'Connor 9 95 Kennedy 9 90.6 Scalia 9 80.6 Souter 8 75.4 Thomas 8 83.8 Ginsburg 8 69.4 Breyer 6 97.5 Court 74 91.4 For the 1996 term, as described in Table II, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Rehnquist are win, show, and place, with Kennedy and Thomas the slowpokes.

Table II Days to Decide Cases 1996 Term

Number of Days to Justice Opinions Decide Case Rehnquist 11 91 Stevens 10 119.3 O'Connor 9 98.2 Kennedy 9 137.6 Scalia 10 110.8 Souter 8 99.3 Thomas 8 127.1 Ginsburg 8 78.4 Breyer 8 84.8 Court 81 105.4 Finally, in 1997, Table III...