These tables are derived from information contained in 276 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1941, and August 31, 1942. The total of 276 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and the like.
When two or more cases were, in effect, consolidated—one was simply said to be ruled by the decision in the other—the cases are counted as only one: (1) Banking Com. v. Magnin (239 Wis. 36) and Banking Com. v. Magnin (239 Wis. 40); (2) State v. Wagner (239 Wis. 634) and State v. Wagner (239 Wis. 642); and (3) Beck v. Baird; State ex rel. Krieser v. Baird; and State ex rel. Stecher v. Baird.
Carpenter Baking Co. v. Bakery Sales Drivers Local Union; In re Gerlach’s Will and Radtke Bros. & Kortsch Co. v. Industrial Commission resulted in 3-3 splits and are not included.
Also excluded is State ex rel. State Central Committee of Progressive Party v. Board of Election Commissioners in which the court took original jurisdiction and then dismissed the case.
According to Portraits of Justice. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s First 150 Years, “[i]n 1940, [Justice George] Nelson became ill and was unable to attend court. He resigned in December 1942.” Nelson’s name does not appear on any of the decisions filed in 1941-42, and I am assuming that he did not participate at all during this term. Thus, he is omitted from the following tables.
The tables are available as a complete set and by individual topic in the subsets listed below.
Four-to-Three Decisions
Decisions Arranged by Vote Split
Frequency of Justices in the Majority
Distribution of Opinion Authorship
Frequency of Agreement Between Pairs of Justices
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