NCJ Number
200126
Date Published
2002
Length
75 pages
Annotation
This document presents the 2000-2001 annual report of the Maryland Judiciary.
Abstract
There were 967 total filings docketed by the Court of Appeals during the 2000 term, including 145 regular docket appeals, 715 petitions for certiorari, 30 miscellaneous appeals, and 77 attorney grievance proceedings. There was a decrease of 2 percent from the total filings of the year 1999. Over the 2 year period, a 7 percent decrease occurred in regular docket filings, while a slight increase of over 1 percent occurred in petitions for certiorari. During the same period, attorney grievance proceedings increased over 4 percent. Since the 1996 term, regular docket filings increased nearly 10 percent. Contributing most significantly to that increase was a 66 percent rise in criminal appeals. Civil filings decreased approximately 10 percent. Over the last 5 years, the Court of Appeals experienced a slight decrease of approximately one and a half percent in total dispositions. During that period, the number of regular docket appeals disposed increased nearly 14 percent. Attorney grievance dispositions increased nearly 84 percent. The most significant decrease during the 5 year period occurred in disposed petitions for certiorari. The Court reported a relatively significant decrease in the amount of time expended for case disposition over the last 5 years. An average of 4 months was expended from the time certiorari was granted to argument of the appeal or to disposition without argument during 2001, compared with five and a half months during 1997. The time expended decreased although the number of cases increased nearly 14 percent during the same period. There was a 1-month increase in the average time expended from argument to decision. Once again, the number of cases argued increased over the last 5 years. The entire process, from certiorari to decision, decreased during the 5 year period. The Court issued 124 majority opinions during 2001, representing an increase of 4 percent over 1997. Over the last 5 years, the percentage of certiorari petitions granted increased from 12 percent in 1997 to 18 percent in 2001. While disposing of its caseload more expeditiously, the Court also managed to decrease its pending cases over the last 5 years. 61 tables