NCJ Number
51885
Date Published
1979
Length
270 pages
Annotation
THIS ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL COURT STATISTICS PROJECT IS THE FIRST DOCUMENT EVER PUBLISHED CONTAINING STATISTICAL CASELOAD DATA COMPILED ON A NATIONAL BASIS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF EACH STATE COURT SYSTEM.
Abstract
IT IS THE FIRST STEP IN ESTABLISHING WITHIN THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS A PERMANENT DATA BASE OF STATE COURT CASELOAD STATISTICS. THE PREPARATION OF THE REPORT WAS CLOSELY SUPERVISED BY THE CONFERENCE OF STATE COURT ADMINISTRATORS AND INCLUDES APPELLATE COURT DATA FROM 50 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, GENERAL JURISDICTION COURT DATA FROM 44 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND SELECTED CATEGORIES OF LIMITED JURISDICTION COURT DATA. THE REPORT CONSISTS OF TWO MAJOR SECTIONS. PART I (WHICH FOLLOWS AN INTRODUCTION DESCRIBING THE GOALS, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL COURT STATISTIC PROJECT) INCLUDES ALL THE SUMMARY TABLES OF 1975 STATE COURT CASELOAD ALONG WITH EXPLANATORY TEXT. APPELLATE COURT DATA ARE INTERPRETED SEPARATELY FROM GENERAL JURISDICTION COURT DATA. APPELLATE COURT TABLES DISPLAY TOTAL CASEFLOW FOR ALL COURTS, COMPARATIVE CASEFLOW FOR COURTS OF LAST RESORT AS WELL AS FOR COURTS OF LAST RESORT IN STATES WITH AND IN STATES WITHOUT INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS, AND COMPARATIVE CASEFLOW FOR INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURTS. SEPARATE BREAKDOWNS OF TOTAL CASELOAD INTO CIVIL AND CRIMINAL DATA FOR APPELLATE COURTS AND TIME-TO-DISPOSITION DATA ARE ALSO PRESENTED. SUMMARY TABLES FOR GENERAL JURISDICTION COURTS DISPLAY TOTAL CASEFLOW AS WELL AS BREAKDOWNS INTO CIVIL, CRIMINAL, AND JUVENILE CASELOAD. CIVIL CASEFLOW IS BROKEN DOWN INTO SUBCATEGORIES WHENEVER AVAILABLE. SOME TABLES INCLUDE LIMITED JURISDICTION COURT DATA WHERE AVAILABLE. CRIMINAL CASEFLOW IS ALSO BROKEN INTO SUBCATEGORIES, WITH SEPARATE CHARTS SHOWING FELONY CASEFLOW AND CRIMINAL DISPOSITIONS. JURY TRIAL DATA ARE PRESENTED WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE. PART II OF THE ANNUAL REPORT CONTAINS INDIVIDUAL STATE PROFILES OUTLINING THE STRUCTURE OF THE STATE COURT ORGANIZATION AND SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF EACH COURT. SEPARATE TABLES WITHIN EACH PROFILE DISPLAY AVAILABLE DATA FROM EACH STATE FOR EACH APPELLATE COURT, FOR EACH LEVEL OF GENERAL JURISDICTION COURT, AND FOR SELECTED CASE CATEGORIES IN LIMITED JURISDICTION COURTS. THESE PROFILE TABLES ARE THE SOURCE OF THE STATISTICS THAT ARE COMPILED IN THE SUMMARY TABLES IN PART I. THREE APPENDIXES PRESENT SOURCES OF THE 1975 DATA, THE ESTIMATION PROCEDURES USED IN THE STATISTICAL COMPUTATIONS, AND THE UNIT OF COUNT USED IN GENERAL JURISDICTION COURTS. A GLOSSARY EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANT TERMS USED THROUGHOUT THE DOCUMENT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)