The Kentucky Supreme Court issued 19 opinions from April 24-30. As of April 30, the court issued 62 opinions in 2023 — 14 fewer than this point a year ago. Three of the 19 opinions are below:
- Friends of Louisville Public Art, LLC v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Historic Landmarks & Preservation Districts Comm’n, where the court “reversed the judgments of the court of appeals and circuit court affirming the decision of the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Historic Landmarks & Preservation Districts Commission to approve the application…to remove a certain statue, holding that the lower courts erred.”
- City of Pikevill v. Ky. Concealed Carry Coalition, Inc., where the court “reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing a summary judgment granted by the circuit court dismissing the claims brought by Kentucky Concealed Carry Coalition (KC3)…holding that KC3 lacked standing to bring this action.”
- Leavell v. Commonwealth, where the court “affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of one count each of murder, receiving stolen property – firearm, and tampering with physical evidence, holding that Appellant was not entitled to relief on her claims of error.”
From April 24-30, state supreme courts issued 172 opinions nationally. The West Virginia Supreme Court issued the most with 36. State supreme courts in 14 states issued the fewest with zero. Courts where judges are elected have issued 109 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 63.
The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Laurance VanMeter. The court issued 167 opinions in 2022 and 225 in 2021. Nationally, state supreme courts issued 7,423 opinions in 2022 and 8,320 in 2021. The courts have issued 2,201 opinions in 2023. Courts where judges are elected have issued 1,224 opinions, while courts whose members are appointed have issued 977. Kentucky is a divided government, meaning neither party holds trifecta control.
Additional reading:
- https://ballotpedia.org/Kentucky_Supreme_Court
- https://ballotpedia.org/Courts_in_Kentucky
- https://ballotpedia.org/State_supreme_courts
