1 / 15

How Do Justices Make Decisions? Models of Court Decision Making:

How Do Justices Make Decisions? Models of Court Decision Making:. Legal Model Judges make decisions based on stare decisis (precedent) Attitudinal Model Judges make decisions based on their own policy preferences Rational Choice Model Judges are utility maximizers. Supreme Court.

bryony
Download Presentation

How Do Justices Make Decisions? Models of Court Decision Making:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. How Do Justices Make Decisions?Models of Court Decision Making: • Legal Model • Judges make decisions based on stare decisis (precedent) • Attitudinal Model • Judges make decisions based on their own policy preferences • Rational Choice Model • Judges are utility maximizers

  2. Supreme Court • The U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari to a very small number of cases every year • Rule of Four • Interest Groups and other political actors file amicus curae briefs with the Court • Try to influence decision to grant cert (or not grant cert) • Also try to influence the decision

  3. Legal Model • Consistent with “judicial restraint” • Judges behave (grant certiorari, make decisions, etc.) based on legal precedent • Strict adherence to letter of the law • Judges do not impose their own personal policy preferences

  4. Attitudinal Model • Consistent with “judicial activism” • Judges behave based on their own personal policy preferences or ideology • When making a decision, judges are making comparisons between previous court decision under review and their own preferences

  5. Attitudinal Model • Decisions consistent with attitudinal model • Voting patterns consistent with policy preferences of justices • Other political actors believe that judges behave attitudinally • President appoints like-minded justices • Senate more likely to reject nominees • Supreme Court following public opinion • Replacement Theory

  6. Rational Choice Models • Judges act strategically in order to get preferred outcomes • Changing vote from original conference vote to final vote • Voting against policy preferences in order to get reelected (if elected judge) • Granting certiorari to cases so that the court will uphold preferred decisions

  7. Landmark Court Cases • Marbury v. Madison (1803) • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) • Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857) • Plessey v. Ferguson (1896) • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) • Roe v. Wade (1973)

More Related