With the U.S. Supreme Court beginning its October 2016 term next month, we conduct our 32nd annual review of the performance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit over the past term, and briefly discuss the court’s decisions scheduled for review during the new term.
The court’s 2015 term was marked by the sudden passing of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. As a result, four of the court’s 80 merits decisions this term were split 4-4.1 Although one might assume that the current makeup of the court would result in a record number of 4-4 decisions, the percentage of 4-4 decisions this term was consistent with the percentage in recent history due to recusals or missing justices: 7 percent of all Rehnquist court decisions (1986-2004) and 4 percent of Roberts court decisions, prior to the death of Justice Scalia (2005-2015), resulted in a 4-4 split.2
