United States: Which Trial Courts Produce the Supreme Court's Civil Docket (Part 1)? (Illinois Supreme Court Review)

Last week, we concluded our analysis of the government's winning percentage, year by year and one area of law at a time, in civil cases at the Court. This week, we begin reviewing the trial courts from which the Court's civil and criminal dockets are drawn.

In Table 606, we report the data for civil cases in 1990. Thirty-seven civil cases originated in Cook County. Eight were direct appeals from various administrative boards. Seven came from St. Clair County, six from Sangamon County, four from Du Page County, three each under the Court's original jurisdiction and from Lake County, two cases from Madison County, and one case apiece from Will, Warren, Douglas, Bureau, McHenry, LaSalle, Johnson, Jackson, Kankakee, Wabash, Winnebago, Champaign, Marshall, Iroquois, De Kalb and Ogle counties.

We report the data for civil cases in 1991 in Table 607. The Court decided twenty-two cases from Cook County, five which were direct appeals from administrative boards, three from La Salle and Kane counties, two each from St. Clair, Madison and Peoria counties, and one case each from Will, Sangamon, Lake, Du Page, McHenry, Winnebago, Jefferson, Greene, Franklin, Alexander, Christian, Rock Island, Marion and Putnam counties.

In 1992, the Court decided 36 civil cases from Cook County, seven cases from Du Page County, six direct appeals from administrative boards, five cases from Champaign County, three each from Lake and Madison counties, two from St. Clair, La Salle, Kane, Boone, Williamson, McLean, Vermilion and Ford counties and from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and one case apiece from the Court's original jurisdiction and from Will, Sangamon, McHenry, Jackson, Winnebago, Rock Island, Macon, Wayne, Menard, Bond, Lawrence and Tazewell counties.

We report the data for 1993 in Table 609. That year, the Court decided twenty cases which originated in Cook County, three each from Sangamon and Madison counties, two from St. Clair, Peoria and Champaign counties, and one case apiece from Du Page, McHenry, DeKalb, Williamson and Randolph counties, and one direct appeal from an administrative board.

Finally, we review the data from 1994 in Table 610. That year, the Court decided thirty-three civil cases from Cook County, six from Du Page County, four from McLean County, three from Madison and Jackson counties, two each from St. Clair, Will, Sangamon, Peoria, Champaign and Kane counties, and two direct appeals from administrative boards. Finally, the Court heard one case each from the Court's original jurisdiction and from Lake, McHenry, Johnson, Williamson, Macon, Tazewell, Randolph, Henry, Hamilton, Grundy and Morgan counties.

Join us back here tomorrow as we review the Court's criminal docket for the years 1990-1994.

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