Holdover Cases on the United States Supreme Court

This research note focuses on eight terms of the U.S. Supreme Court (The 1946 term through the 1953 term) to determine the extent to which orally argued cases are held over to the next term and the circumstances under which such action takes place.This study shows that 4.3 percent of the cases were held over. It also demonstrates that in 33 percent of the holdover decisions the original vote was either 4-4 or 4-3 and the Court was awaiting the return of an absent justice. In another 30 percent of these decisions the case was held over because the justice, who was assigned to write the Opinion of the Court, was no longer in the majority.