Opinions from appellate judges disagreeing over the outcome of a case may make for riveting reading, but there’s one circumstance where such opinions are pointless: when the ruling under review is being affirmed by an evenly divided appellate court. Nevertheless, appellate courts take divergent approaches on the appropriate way to announce a decision that affirms a lower court’s ruling by an equally divided court.
Some courts, such as the U.S. Supreme Court or the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, simply issue a one-line order stating that the judgment under review is affirmed by an evenly divided court without supplying any opinions or identifying which way the judges on the court have voted. Other courts, such as the Supreme Court of Colorado, reveal the identities of the judges who have voted to affirm or reverse, while stopping short of issuing opinions in support of those positions. Finally, other courts, such as the federal appellate courts for the 1st Circuit and the 5th Circuit, issue reasoned opinions in support of affirmance or reversal even when evenly divided.
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