Recent Legal Developments: Criminal Justice Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, 2019 Term

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016820949908
• Author: Craig Hemmens,Samantha Tjaden,Angelo Brown
• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Date: 01 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Recent Legal Developments:

Criminal Justice Decisions of

the U.S. Supreme Court,

2019 Term

Craig Hemmens

1

, Angelo Brown

1

, and Samantha Tjaden

1

During its 2019 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a total of 60 decisions on the merits, including

53 signed opinions, five summary reversals, and two per curiam opinion. Of the 60 decisions, 11

(18%) dealt primarily with a criminal justice-related issue. This is the fewest number of criminal

justice-related decisions issued by the Court in the past quarter-century. A number of these decisions

dealt with important issues such as search and seizure, sentencing, and the interpretation of federal

statutes. These are discussed below.

The Court this term issued the fewest decisions overall in over 100 years, but there were none-

theless significant decisions in a variety of areas including abortion rights, gay and transgender

rights, and immigrant rights. The term was marked by a series of unusual events, among them the

Court responding to the coronavirus pandemic by holding oral arguments in May, and conducting

these arguments via telephone rather than in person, for the first time in history.

An examination of all of the Co urt’s decisions reveals some interesting patterns. Thirty -six

percent (22 of 60) of the Court’s decisions were unanimous, while 18 decisions (30%) had either

8–1 or 7-2 majorities. Sixty percent (40 out of 60) of the decisions were decided by a vote of at least

7-2. Seven cases (12%) were decided by a 6-3 margin, while 13 cases (22%) were decided by a 5-4

margin.

The makeup of cases accepted and decided by the Court was in line with past years. The vast

majority of cases (84%) were taken from the U.S. Courts of Appeal. The Ninth Circuit had the most

cases reviewed (10) and was reversed 9 times. This is not unusual, as the Ninth Circuit is both the

largest circuit and is generally perceived to be the most liberal in orientation. The Supreme Court

heard appeals from state courts 11 times, and reversed the state courts 8 times.

Chief Justice Roberts (97%) and Justice Kavanaugh (93%) were the two members of the Court

most frequently in the majority. This is the second year in a row that Chief Justice Roberts and

Justice Kavanaugh have led the justices in frequency in the majority. Chief Justice Roberts and

Justice Kavanaugh also had the highest level of agreement in all cases decided, agreeing in 93%of

1

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Craig Hemmens, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.

Email: craig.hemmens@wsu.edu

Criminal Justice Review

ª2020 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016820949908

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2022, Vol. 47(2) 137–147

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