Posted by Paul Cassell: Judge Sotomayor's 50 Most Important Opinions: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_31-2009_06_06.shtml#1243743745
Over at The Right Coast, USD law prof. Tom Smith has [1]this interesting list of Judge Sotomayor's 50 Most Important Opinions. As I understand it, the algorithm he uses to collect the most important opinions -- called PreCYdent -- determines which particular opinions have been most influential in the development of the law. Interestingly, the top three opinions on the list are all immigration opinions: 1. [2]ZHANG v. GONZALES, 426 F.3d 540 (2d Cir. 2005) 2. [3]LIN v. GONZALES, 445 F.3d 126 (2d Cir. 2006) 3. [4]BRISSETT v. ASHCROFT, 363 F.3d 130 (2d Cir. 2004). I think this suggests that court of appeals judges are likely to have the most influence in areas of high-volume appeals -- like immigration appeals. Of course, if confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will have for more expansive opportunities to influence the development of the law! References 1. http://rightcoast.typepad.com/rightcoast/2009/05/judge-sotomayors-top-50-opinions-tom-smith-.html 2. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/034803p.pdf 3. http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/445/445.F3d.127.03-4989.html 4. http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/363/363.F3d.130.01-4168.html _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
