Forget that nearly 78 percent of the California Supreme Court’s opinions in 2007 were unanimous. Ignore Justice Carol Corrigan’s emergence as a force to be reckoned with in her second year on the court. And pay little attention to the 116 rulings on issues across the spectrum.
Appellate specialists and academics around the state agree that two moves by the state Supreme Court swept all others aside in 2007 and likely will keep things shaken up through 2008: Chief Justice Ronald George’s proposal to transfer some death penalty cases to the state’s intermediate appellate courts, and the high court’s decision to dismiss a major toxic-tort case involving Lockheed Martin rather than have it decided by a majority of pro tem justices.
