The Supreme Court handed down two decisions today, one of which was a 5-4. As of today, that means that only five of the Court's 56 decisions have split 5-4 thus far. If one throws in the Court's 5-3 decision in Stoneridge and the Court's two 4-4 splits, that is still only eight decisions, or 14 percent of the Court's decisions. Only if the Court were to split 5-4 in all fourteen of its remaining cases could it reach last term's total of twenty-two 5-4 decisions, but this would still fall short of the 33 percent mark OT06.

Fourteen more 5-4 decisions is unlikely, but we will almost certainly see quite a few. (My guess is seven.) While it is typical for the Court to release a disproportionate share of 5-4 decisions at the end of the term, half of the pending cases are from the April term, and four more are from March, so not all of the cases remaining are close calls. In any event, with Heller (Second Amendment), Exxon (punitive damages), Kennedy (death penalty for child rape), and Davis (BCRA "millionaire's amendment) still in the queue, there will be plenty of opportunities for sharp disagreement among the justices.