In a detailed analysis of the Supreme Court’s latest term, it becomes evident that not all justices bear equal writing loads. Under the majority opinion assignment system, primary authorship duties fall to a select number of justices. Historically, all justices author majority opinions more than 50% of the time. Interestingly, majority opinion authorships ranged from four to seven across justices, with Justice Alito writing the fewest and Justices Roberts, Thomas, Sotomayor, and Kagan writing the most.
Beyond mandatory duties, some justices opt to write non-obligatory concurrences and dissents. As scholars argue, the decision to write such opinions hinges on internal and external motivations that justify the additional workload.
Cross-referencing data from the United States Supreme Court Database reveals that Justice Thomas leads in total opinion authorship and averages more opinions per term than his peers. This term, Thomas authored 23 opinions, tied with Justice Jackson, while Justice Gorsuch closely followed with 22.
Length and complexity also factor into the justices’ workload. Chief Justice Roberts authored the longest majority opinions in Trump v. U.S. and Loper Bright. Justice Kavanaugh penned the lengthiest dissents in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma and Justice Sotomayor in SEC v. Jarkesy. For concurrences, Justice Gorsuch’s contributions in both Loper Bright and SEC v. Jarkesy were among the most substantial.
Assessing total word count, Justice Gorsuch outperformed his colleagues, authoring significantly more words than Justices Thomas and Jackson. Notably, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett wrote fewer words overall, despite their influential opinions.
This term’s data indicates that prolific writers like Justice Thomas might not always produce the most extensive output. Conversely, justices who contribute fewer opinions can still have a considerable impact, exemplified by the robust dissents and concurrences from Justices like Jackson and Gorsuch.
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