Motivations for the Use of Concurring Opinions on the U.S. Supreme Court

Motivations for the Use of Concurring Opinions on the U.S. Supreme Court PDF Author: Kathleen H. Winters
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Abstract: While some behavior on the United States Supreme Court is formally required, other choices are wholly up to the discretion of each individual justice. One such discretional choice is the choice to author a concurring opinion, which agrees with the outcome of a case but add to, subtract from, or emphasize a point within the legal doctrine provided by the majority opinion. Thus, choices about concurring opinions provide a valuable opportunity for examining judicial motivations. This dissertation examines justices' motives for both whether and when they circulate a concurrence to their colleagues, as well as whether they choose to publish it along with the Court's opinion. The hypotheses are derived from two types of motivations - individual and collective. Tests of these hypotheses were conducted using data from the 1970 through 1979 Court terms, collected primarily from the personal papers of Justices Harry Blackmun and William Brennan. I use a split population event history model to test hypotheses about whether and when a justice first circulates a concurring opinion. I then use a logistic regression model to test hypotheses about whether a justice chooses to withdraw a written concurrence; this analysis is, of course, dependent upon the justice already having written a concurring opinion. In both sets of analyses I find that Supreme Court justices are motivated not only by their individual preferences about legal policy, but also by individual non-policy preferences, such as workload, and collective preferences about the institutional status of the Court, such as maintaining the Court's legitimacy.

Motivations for the Use of Concurring Opinions on the U.S. Supreme Court

Motivations for the Use of Concurring Opinions on the U.S. Supreme Court PDF Author: Kathleen H. Winters
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Abstract: While some behavior on the United States Supreme Court is formally required, other choices are wholly up to the discretion of each individual justice. One such discretional choice is the choice to author a concurring opinion, which agrees with the outcome of a case but add to, subtract from, or emphasize a point within the legal doctrine provided by the majority opinion. Thus, choices about concurring opinions provide a valuable opportunity for examining judicial motivations. This dissertation examines justices' motives for both whether and when they circulate a concurrence to their colleagues, as well as whether they choose to publish it along with the Court's opinion. The hypotheses are derived from two types of motivations - individual and collective. Tests of these hypotheses were conducted using data from the 1970 through 1979 Court terms, collected primarily from the personal papers of Justices Harry Blackmun and William Brennan. I use a split population event history model to test hypotheses about whether and when a justice first circulates a concurring opinion. I then use a logistic regression model to test hypotheses about whether a justice chooses to withdraw a written concurrence; this analysis is, of course, dependent upon the justice already having written a concurring opinion. In both sets of analyses I find that Supreme Court justices are motivated not only by their individual preferences about legal policy, but also by individual non-policy preferences, such as workload, and collective preferences about the institutional status of the Court, such as maintaining the Court's legitimacy.

Scalia Dissents

Scalia Dissents PDF Author: Antonin Scalia
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1596987006
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Brilliant. Colorful. Visionary. Tenacious. Witty. Since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1986, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has been described as all of these things and for good reason. He is perhaps the best-known justice on the Supreme Court today and certainly the most controversial. Yet most Americans have probably not read even one of his several hundred Supreme Court opinions. In Scalia Dissents, Kevin Ring, former counsel to the U.S. Senate's Constitution Subcommittee, lets Justice Scalia speak for himself. This volume—the first of its kind— showcases the quotable justice's take on many of today's most contentious constitutional debates. Scalia Dissentscontains over a dozen of the justice's most compelling and controversial opinions. Ring also provides helpful background on the opinions and a primer on Justice Scalia's judicial philosophy. Scalia Dissents is the perfect book for readers who love scintillating prose and penetrating insight on the most important constitutional issues of our time.

Judging the Supreme Court

Judging the Supreme Court PDF Author: Clarke Rountree
Publisher: Rhetoric & Public Affairs
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
Judging the Supreme Court: Constructions of Motives in Bush v. Gore examines how the U.S. Supreme Court, its defenders, and its critics explained what the majority justices were doing in this case. The decision, which was split 5-4 along conservative-liberal ideological lines, was widely criticized for using weak legal arguments to support ending the recounts of presidential ballots in the state of Florida and, thereby, handing the 2000 U.S. Presidential election to Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Concurring Opinion Writing on the U.S. Supreme Court

Concurring Opinion Writing on the U.S. Supreme Court PDF Author: Pamela C. Corley
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 143843068X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 163

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Book Description
Analysis of concurrent opinion writing by Supreme Court justices.

Settled Versus Right

Settled Versus Right PDF Author: Randy J. Kozel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110712753X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
This book analyzes the theoretical nuances and practical implications of how judges use precedent.

51 Imperfect Solutions

51 Imperfect Solutions PDF Author: Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190866063
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
When we think of constitutional law, we invariably think of the United States Supreme Court and the federal court system. Yet much of our constitutional law is not made at the federal level. In 51 Imperfect Solutions, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that American Constitutional Law should account for the role of the state courts and state constitutions, together with the federal courts and the federal constitution, in protecting individual liberties. The book tells four stories that arise in four different areas of constitutional law: equal protection; criminal procedure; privacy; and free speech and free exercise of religion. Traditional accounts of these bedrock debates about the relationship of the individual to the state focus on decisions of the United States Supreme Court. But these explanations tell just part of the story. The book corrects this omission by looking at each issue-and some others as well-through the lens of many constitutions, not one constitution; of many courts, not one court; and of all American judges, not federal or state judges. Taken together, the stories reveal a remarkably complex, nuanced, ever-changing federalist system, one that ought to make lawyers and litigants pause before reflexively assuming that the United States Supreme Court alone has all of the answers to the most vexing constitutional questions. If there is a central conviction of the book, it's that an underappreciation of state constitutional law has hurt state and federal law and has undermined the appropriate balance between state and federal courts in protecting individual liberty. In trying to correct this imbalance, the book also offers several ideas for reform.

The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy

The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy PDF Author: John Agresto
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801492778
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Discusses the growth of the power of the Supreme Court and analyzes the separation of judicial and congressional functions.

A People's History of the Supreme Court

A People's History of the Supreme Court PDF Author: Peter Irons
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101503130
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 609

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Book Description
A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court featuring a forward by Howard Zinn Recent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and "enemy combatants." To understand key issues facing the supreme court and the current battle for the court's ideological makeup, there is no better guide than Peter Irons. This revised and updated edition includes a foreword by Howard Zinn. "A sophisticated narrative history of the Supreme Court . . . [Irons] breathes abundant life into old documents and reminds readers that today's fiercest arguments about rights are the continuation of the endless American conversation." -Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

Dissent and the Supreme Court

Dissent and the Supreme Court PDF Author: Melvin I. Urofsky
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 110187063X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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Book Description
“Highly illuminating ... for anyone interested in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the American democracy, lawyer and layperson alike." —The Los Angeles Review of Books In his major work, acclaimed historian and judicial authority Melvin Urofsky examines the great dissents throughout the Court’s long history. Constitutional dialogue is one of the ways in which we as a people reinvent and reinvigorate our democratic society. The Supreme Court has interpreted the meaning of the Constitution, acknowledged that the Court’s majority opinions have not always been right, and initiated a critical discourse about what a particular decision should mean before fashioning subsequent decisions—largely through the power of dissent. Urofsky shows how the practice grew slowly but steadily, beginning with the infamous and now overturned case of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) during which Chief Justice Roger Taney’s opinion upheld slavery and ending with the present age of incivility, in which reasoned dialogue seems less and less possible. Dissent on the court and off, Urofsky argues in this major work, has been a crucial ingredient in keeping the Constitution alive and must continue to be so.

Gangsters to Governors

Gangsters to Governors PDF Author: David Clary
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813584566
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Winner of the 2018 Current Events/Social Change Book Award from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner of the 2018 Bronze Current Events Book Award from the Independent Publisher Book Awards Generations ago, gambling in America was an illicit activity, dominated by gangsters like Benny Binion and Bugsy Siegel. Today, forty-eight out of fifty states permit some form of legal gambling, and America’s governors sit at the head of the gaming table. But have states become addicted to the revenue gambling can bring? And does the potential of increased revenue lead them to place risky bets on new casinos, lotteries, and online games? In Gangsters to Governors, journalist David Clary investigates the pros and cons of the shift toward state-run gambling. Unearthing the sordid history of America’s gaming underground, he demonstrates the problems with prohibiting gambling while revealing how today’s governors, all competing for a piece of the action, promise their citizens payouts that are rarely delivered. Clary introduces us to a rogue’s gallery of colorful characters, from John “Old Smoke” Morrissey, the Irish-born gangster who built Saratoga into a gambling haven in the nineteenth century, to Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate who has furiously lobbied against online betting. By exploring the controversial histories of legal and illegal gambling in America, he offers a fresh perspective on current controversies, including bans on sports and online betting. Entertaining and thought-provoking, Gangsters to Governors considers the past, present, and future of our gambling nation. Author's website (http://www.davidclaryauthor.com)