Chief justice: State’s high court has decided all its cases

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided all of its cases for which it heard oral arguments, and will release the remaining opinions in the coming weeks, according to a statement from the courts released Tuesday.

The statement, attributed to Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, comes on the heels of several weeks of speculation over whether the justices would finish the workload by Monday, when the term ended. Several high-profile cases have yet to be decided, including a challenge to Act 10 and the state’s voter ID laws.

According to a blog post from Marquette University history Professor Alan Ball, the court had released more opinions by the middle of June in past terms than the justices had even discussed by that point in the current term. The court’s pace of releasing opinions during the current term is one of the slowest in recent years, according to Ball’s data.

According to the court’s website, there are 44 cases in which oral arguments took place that have not been decided. The court released 60 opinions since Sept. 1, records show, though 35 of those are attorney discipline cases.

The justices, in a recent meeting, discussed the backlog and contemplated using emails to discuss opinions and revisions. They also discussed whether deadlines they set themselves ought to be more strictly enforced. Follow @eheisigWLJ