After two years in which the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s published opinions leaned toward the civil docket, the court’s written work this year has seen a surge in criminal cases, due in part to fallout from recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. The comparative rise of published criminal decisions has coincided with a sharp drop in civil opinions that has diminished the shorthanded court’s overall year-over-year output by 10 percent.

The retirement last year of Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen, coupled with the election of Judges Christine Donohue and David N. Wecht to the state Supreme Court, left the court three members short of its normal 15-judge complement. For a bench with a reputation as the busiest appellate court in the country, the vacancies appear to be having some effect.

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