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The California Supreme Court is one of the most well regarded of the American state supreme courts, indeed of all American courts. It has had a significant effect on the law outside its jurisdiction. Indeed, statistical analyses conducted by LexisNexis personnel at the Court's request indicate that the decisions of the Supreme Court of California are by far the most followed of any state supreme court in the United States. Between 1940 and 2005, the reasoning of 1,260 decisions of the California court was adopted by the supreme court of at least one other state. Washington and Colorado were the next most frequently cited over that period, with 942 and 848 opinions respectively.

The Court gained during the mid-twentieth century as a progressive and activist court, particularly in the area of torts. As the Wall Street Journal said in 1972:

"The state's high court over the past 20 years has won a reputation as perhaps the most innovative of the state judiciaries, setting precedents in areas of criminal justice, civil liberties, racial integration, and consumer protection that heavily influence other states and the federal bench."

Many important legal concepts have been pioneered or developed by the Court, including strict liability for defective products, fair procedure, negligent infliction of emotional distress, palimony, insurance bad faith, wrongful life, and market-share liability.