The ACLU batting average examines the ACLU win/loss record in all 736 US Supreme Court cases in which it was involved in from the 1920s to 1999. The cases are examined by decade, by subject matter, and by margin of victory/loss. To read individual case summaries visit ACLU in the Supreme Court or Landmark Cases.
The following methodology was used in compiling the "batting average" project. It is important to note that because the ACLU operates on many levels and by various means, there is insufficient information in its US Supreme Court record to measure its value, success, or effectiveness.
Choosing the Cases
This work was confined to cases decided by the US Supreme Court from the beginning of the ACLU, on Jan. 19, 1920 through Dec. 31, 1999.
Documentation
The cases chosen were where the ACLU was shown by The Court documents or records to be:
A party, or
The attorney of record, or
The filer of an amicus brief
This criteria excluded many cases where the ACLU was involved indirectly or informally, including notable ones, such as Roe v. Wade, Powell v. Alabama, & Loving v. Virginia.
Win/Loss Definition
This work has simply defined "winning" or "losing" by whether or not the ruling of The Court was "with" or "against" the side the ACLU was on, even though there are instances where the ACLU was on the "winning side" but felt they lost and, conversely, where they were on the "losing side" but may have received a benefit from the decision.
It is established that in the cases of ties, where the Supreme Court ruling has an equally divided 4-4 vote, the equally divided decision reaffirms the ruling below because petitioner/appellant needs 5 votes to overturn a judgment. In that case, we count the decision as an ACLU "win" or "loss" depending on whether the ACLU position was seeking affirmance or reversal of the judgment below.
When the Supreme Court's ruling goes part in favor and part against the ACLU position, we count "winning" or "losing" according to whether the Court's line of reasoning in its argument was "with" or "against" the ACLU position.
In per curiam decisions, the Court issued decisions usually without making public the individual Justices' voting record. In such cases, we have categorized these decisions as unanimous "wins" or "losses" - unless an individual Justice had issued an opinion indicating their own position and adjusted the unanimous vote accordingly (i.e., if it is a concurring opinion, the vote remains unanimous; however, in the case of dissenting opinions, the unanimity of the vote fails).
The Supporting Data
Most of the data in this work came as reported in United States Reports citation books.
Click here to view our "in progress" presentation of the 736 Supreme Court cases. We are in the process of inputting these, and expect them to be complete by late 2009.
5. The Voting Record of the ACLU in the U.S. Supreme Court by Decade
DECADE
WINS
TIES
LOSSES
RECAP
5-4
6-3 5-3 4-3
7-2 6-2 5-2
8-1 7-1 6-1
9-0 8-0 7-0 6-0
Total Wins
4-4 3-3
Total Losses
0-9 0-8 0-7
1-8 1-7 1-6
2-7 2-6 2-5 2-4
3-6 3-5 3-4
4-5
Total Cases
ACLU Win%
1920s
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
1930s
1
0
1
1
1
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
100%
1940s
6
6
4
5
14
35
0
12
5
2
0
2
3
47
74.47%
1950s
5
5
3
5
12
30
1
10
1
1
1
5
2
41
73.17%
1960s
16
12
8
10
18
64
0
28
4
4
3
9
8
92
69.57%
1970s
14
13
15
11
19
72
0
71
7
8
11
25
20
143
50.35%
1980s
25
16
15
12
51
119
1
116
28
7
11
40
30
236
50.85%
1990s
20
11
13
6
43
93
0
79
25
8
13
18
15
172
50.07%
Totals/ Average
87
63
59
50
158
417
2
317
70
30
40
99
78
736
56.87%
Percent
12%
9%
8%
7%
21%
56.87%
0.27%
43.13%
10%
4%
5%
13%
13%
100%
6. Case Categories Defined
The 736 cases included in the project have been divided into four Main categories: 1st Amendment, Criminal Justice, Civil Rights and Governmental Authority. These categories are subdivided as follows:
