Analysis Of Activity For Year Ended Analysis Of Activity For Year Ended Overview
The Supreme Court of Texas is the highest state court for civil appeals and promulgates rules of administration and civil procedure for the courts of Texas. It is comprised of the Chief Justice and eight justices.
The Court disposed of or otherwise acted upon a total of 3,204 matters during fiscal year 1998, an increase of 5.5 percent from the 3,037 matters passed on in fiscal year 1997.
Beginning September 1, 1997, Applications for Writ of Error were replaced by Petitions
for Review. Any Applications for Writ of Error filed during fiscal year 1998 were filed
pursuant to having an order granting an extension of time to file a writ prior to
September 1, 1997.
Regular Causes
Regular causes are regular appeals or original actions pending before the court. Normally, they reach this status when a Petition for Review (formerly a Writ of Error) is granted in the cause. Petitions for Original Mandamus and Habeas Corpus, which are not disposed of upon initial review, and in which the petition is granted, may also become regular causes. Figure 1 at the bottom left details the trend over the last ten years for activity regarding regular causes.
The 115
regular causes added to the Court's docket during the year ended August 31, 1998, were 4.2
percent less than the 120 regular causes added in fiscal year 1997.
The 108 regular causes disposed of were 10.7 percent less than the 121 disposed of in fiscal year 1997 and 28.9 percent less than the 10-year average of 152 Of the regular causes disposed of during 1998, 89 came to the Court on applications for writs of error or petitions for review from the 14 Courts of Appeals. Of those 89 dispositions, the lower courts were reversed in whole or in part in 51 causes, or 57.3 percent. This compares to 82.2 percent reversals in fiscal year 1997.
The 63 regular causes (including motions for rehearing) left pending at the end of
fiscal year 1998 represented 36.8 percent of the total number of regular causes added
during the year or carried over from the previous year. This is equal to the 10-year
average of 63 pending causes. At the end of fiscal year 1997, 57 regular causes had been
pending in the Court.
Petitions for Review and Applications for Writs Of Error
A Petition for Review (formerly Application for Writ of Error) is a request filed by one of the parties, requesting the Supreme Court to review the judgment of a Court of Appeals. If four or more of the nine justices concur, the petition is granted and the cause is scheduled for argument before the court. Figure 2 below details the trend over the last ten years for Applications for Writs of Error and Petitions for Review.
The 949
Petitions for Review and 55 Applications for Writs of Error filed during fiscal year 1998
represented a 2.1 percent increase from the 983 applications filed in fiscal year 1997,
and was 0.2 percent lower than the 10-year average of 1,006.
The 665 Petitions for Review and 439 Applications for Writs of Error disposed of during the year were 17.9 percent more than the 936 applications disposed of during fiscal year 1997, and 7.7 percent more than the 10-year average of 1,025 Twelve percent, or 104, of the 1,104 applications disposed of were granted.
The 284 Petitions for Review and 14 Applications for Writs of Error left pending at the
end of fiscal year 1998 represented 21.3 percent of the total number of such petitions and
applications filed during the year or carried over from the previous year. This is 58 less
pending applications than the 10-year average of 356 pending applications. There were 389
applications for writs of error had been pending in the Court at the end of fiscal year
1997.
Other Writs And Motions
The 1,940 other writs and motions filed during fiscal year 1998 were 4.4 percent less than the 2,029 filed during fiscal year 1997. This is 7.7 percent more than the 10-year average of 1,801 other writs and motions filed.
The 1,992 other writs and motions disposed of during fiscal year 1998 were 0.6 percent less than the 1,980 disposed during fiscal year 1997. This is 246 more dispositions than the 10-year average of 1,781 dispositions.
The 129 other writs and motions left pending by the Court at the end of fiscal year
1998 represented 6.6 percent of the total number of other writs and motions filed during
the year. At the end of fiscal year 1997, 129 other writs and motions had been pending in
the Court.
Opinions Written
During fiscal year 1998, the justices of the Supreme Court wrote 222 opinions (or an average of 24.7 opinions each), 24 percent more than the 179 opinions written in fiscal year 1997 and 2.8 percent more than the 10-year average of 216. About 63.5 percent, or 141, of the opinions written in 1998 were deciding opinions which disposed of causes.