Criminal Appeals Over the Last 100 Years:

Abstract

Among the more popular "political" explanations of increased crime have been the charges that courts have been coddling criminals and handcuffing the police. These accusaticms are often coupled with the general perception that if criminal defendants appeal they will usually win. During the past 20 years there clearly has been an increase in criminal defendant due process rights that have been created largely by the courts. Notwithstanding these developments, are criminal defendants more likely to win than lose on appeal, and has the probability of winning been increasing? This article examines state courts of last resort f r m 187'0 to 1970 to determine both the odds of winning and how they have changed. It also investigates whether these trends are different for the traditional South than for the more liberal states of the Northeast. The data indicate that, in fact, defendants today are far more likely to lose on appeal than they were 100 years ago. In addition, there appears to be lit&? regional variation in criminal appellate outcomes over the last 100 years.