These tables are derived from information contained in 295 Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions that were turned up in a Nexis Uni search for decisions filed between September 1, 1922, and August 31, 1923. The total of 295 decisions does not include various orders pertaining to petitions, motions, and disciplinary matters involving lawyers and judges.
Cases are omitted if they were decided during the previous term but appeared in the search results because motions for reconsideration were not decided until 1922-23. Such cases will be included in the tables for 1921-22. Also omitted is Seaman v. McNamara—an odd case where the identity of the majority opinion’s author is unclear. Justice Jones is the apparent author, but in his conclusion he dissents from the court’s decision. Justice Crownhart also dissents, and Justice Eschweiler dissented “in part” (without authoring an opinion to explain his views).
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. For instance: (1) West Allis v. Milwaukee and Shorewood v. Milwaukee; (2) State ex rel. Union Free High School Dist. v. Chaney and State ex rel. Union Free High School v. Robbins; and (3) Milwaukee Electric R. & Light Co. v. Shorewood and Wisconsin General Ry. v. Shorewood.
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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