You can read all opinions from the 2008 Term on the Supreme Court website, via the Related Link, below.
The US Supreme Court had 73 cases scheduled for oral argument in the 2007-2008 Term; however, they only heard 70 and dismissed three without argument.
The US Supreme Court issued:87 Opinions in the 2005-2006 Term75 Opinions in the 2006-2007 Term73 Opinions in the 2007-2008 Term83 Opinions in the 2008-2009 TermThese numbers do not include In Chamber Opinions and other motions, but do include Per Curiam decisions.
7,849 in a slow term
The Supreme Court is currently sitting for the 2009-2010 Term and has placed 85 merit cases on the calendar for argument. Five were dismissed prior to being heard, and one is scheduled for reargument, making the actual number heard 81. The Court disposed of a total of 92 cases in the 2009 Term. In the 2008-2009 Term, the Court wrote full opinions on 83 cases. For more information, see Related Questions and Related Links, below.
The US Supreme Court received 8,159 petitions for Writ of Certiorari (requests for case review) in the 2009-2010 Term (the most recent year for which information is available), and increase of 5.4% over the 7,738 cases received for the 2008 Term. The Court expected to receive 10,000 petitions for 2008-2009, but the number was revised downward in the Chief Justice's year-end report. This represented about a 6.1% decrease in the number of cases submitted for the 2007-2008 Term, but 234.5% more than the 2,313 the Court received in 1960. The number of cases the US Supreme Court hears each year has decreased over the past sixty years. In 1950, the Court reviewed 93 cases; in 2009, the Court reviewed 87 cases. In the period between those years, the Justices occasionally heard as many as 150 cases in a year.
The answer to this question would vary from Term to Term.
According to Chief Justice John Roberts 2010 year-end report: "The total number of cases filed in the Supreme Court increased from 7,738 filings in the 2008 Term to 8,159 filings in the 2009 Term-an increase of 5.4%."
You can read all opinions from the 2006 Term on the Supreme Court website, via the Related Link, below.
The US Supreme Court issues fewer than one hundred full opinions per year, but the exact number varies. 2009 Term.............currently 81 cases argued or scheduled for argument or reargument (originally 85) 2008 Term.............83 2007 Term.............70 (3 cases dismissed before arguments) 2006 Term.............75 2005 Term.............87
Term
Judicial Review
The US Supreme Court's caseload has grown considerably over the long term; however, individual years may trend up or down. The past two reported years have demonstrated a decline in case filings, but that doesn't necessarily mean we should expect the caseload to continue falling, because we don't know what factors have caused the change. It is possible the economy has had some impact.Chief Justice Roberts' reports for the past three terms (2009-2010 statistics not yet available):2008-2009 Term"The total number of cases filed in the Supreme Court decreased from8,241 filings in the 2007 Term to 7,738 filings in the 2008 Term-a decreaseof 6.1%."2007-2008"The total number of cases filed in the Supreme Court decreased from8,857 filings in the 2006 Term to 8,241 filings in the 2007 Term-a decreaseof 7%."2006-2007"The total number of cases filed in the Supreme Court increased from8,521 filings in the 2005 Term to 8,857 filings in the 2006 Term-anincrease of 4%."