With the U.S. Supreme Court commencing its October 2019 term this week, we conduct our 35th annual review of the performance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit over the past term. We also briefly discuss the Second Circuit’s decisions scheduled for review by the Supreme Court during the new term.

In her address to the Second Circuit’s annual judicial conference, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg remarked that “the event of greatest consequence” for the October 2018 term—and “perhaps for many Terms ahead”—was the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, long considered a critical swing vote on the court. Replacing Justice Kennedy was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. During his first term, Justice Kavanaugh authored seven majority opinions, four concurring opinions, and three dissenting opinions. Adam Feldman, Stat Pack for October Term 2018, SCOTUSBLOG 11 (June 28, 2019) (Stat Pack). His votes aligned most closely with the votes of Chief Justice John Roberts (92 percent of cases), and least closely with the votes of Justice Ginsburg (63 percent of cases). Id. at 23.