United States: Where Do the California Supreme Court's Certified Questions Come From?

This week, we begin a new study – a detailed study of the California Supreme Court's certified questions.

In Table 256, we report the year-by-year certified questions totals on the Court.  No certified questions appear among the Court's opinions between 1994 and 1999.  The Court decided two certified question cases in 2000, three in 2001, four in 2002 and one each in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

The Court decided one certified question each in 2006 and 2007.  The Court heard no certified questions in 2008.  In 2009, the Court heard three certified questions, and the Court decided five questions from the Ninth Circuit in 2010.

The Court decided four certified question cases in 2011.  In 2012, the Court heard no such cases.  In 2013, the Court heard three certified question cases.  The Court decided two cases in 2014, none in 2015, one in 2016 and two (so far) in 2017.

And we turn our attention to the trial courts where the Court's certified questions have originated.  As noted above, the Court decided no certified question appeals from 1994 to 2000.  The Court heard one case from the Northern District of California and one from the Central District in 2000.  In 2001, the Court heard three cases from the Central District.  In 2002, the Court heard one case from the Northern District, two from the Central District and one from the Eastern District of California.

The Court decided one case each from the Central District of California in each year from 2003 through 2007.  The Court heard no certified questions in 2008.  In 2009, the Court decided one case from the Northern District of California, one from the Central District and one from the Southern District.  In 2010, the Court decided one case from the Northern District of California and four from the Central District.  In 2011, the Court heard two cases each from the Northern and Central Districts.  After deciding no cases in 2012, the Court decided two cases from the Central District of California and one from the Southern District.

In 2014, the Court decided two cases from the Central District of California.  After deciding no cases in 2015, the Court decided one case from the Southern District of California in 2016.  So far in 2017, the Court has decided two cases from the Central District of California.

Join us back here tomorrow as we continue our analysis of the Court's certification docket.

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