Number of Cases Without An "Opinion of the Court":
Here's the statistic I want to know about the Supreme Court Term: How many decisions were there that had either no majority opinion or only a partial majority opinion? My vague impression is that there were unusually few of those cases this Term. Does anyone know if that impression is right? (I actually started to tally the cases, but gave up after about 15 decisions figuring that someone else must have looked at this.)
UPDATE: In the comment thread, Jason Harrow of SCOTUSblog weighs in with the answer:
UPDATE: In the comment thread, Jason Harrow of SCOTUSblog weighs in with the answer:
We at SCOTUSblog have looked at this number. This Term, we counted four pluralities: TSSAA, FEC v. Wisc. Right to Life, Hein, and Parents v. Seattle Schools (details here). That number is not necessarily lower than previous Terms. According to our previous stats, there were 3 plurality opinions in OT05, 1 in OT04, 3 in OT03, and 5 in OT02. Hope that's helpful.It is, thanks!
Yup, we at SCOTUSblog have looked at this number. This Term, we counted four pluralities: TSSAA, FEC v. Wisc. Right to Life, Hein, and Parents v. Seattle Schools (details here).
That number is not necessarily lower than previous Terms. According to our previous stats, there were 3 plurality opinions in OT05, 1 in OT04, 3 in OT03, and 5 in OT02. Hope that's helpful.