Checking the Courts

Law, Ideology, and Contingent Discretion

Häftad, Engelska, 2015

AvKirk A. Randazzo,Richard W. Waterman,Richard W. (University of Kentucky) Waterman,Kirk a. Randazzo

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Examines and measures the extent to which statutory language affects judicial behavior.How does the language of legislative statutes affect judicial behavior? Scholars of the judiciary have rarely studied this question despite statutes being, theoretically, the primary opportunity for legislatures to ensure that those individuals who interpret the law will follow their preferences. In Checking the Courts, Kirk A. Randazzo and Richard W. Waterman offer a model that integrates ideological and legal factors through an empirical measure of statutory discretion. The model is tested across multiple judicial institutions, at both the federal and state levels, and reveals that judges are influenced by the levels of discretion afforded in the legislative statutes. In those cases where lawmakers have clear policy preferences, legislation encourages judges to strictly interpret the plain meaning of the law. Conversely, if policy preferences are unclear, legislation leaves open the possibility that judges will make decisions based on their own ideological policy preferences. Checking the Courts thus provides us with a better understanding of the dynamic interplay between law and ideology.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2015-07-02
Mått152 x 229 x 13 mm
Vikt299 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieSUNY series in American Constitutionalism
Antal sidor215
FörlagState University of New York Press
ISBN9781438452883

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Kirk A. Randazzo is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina and author of Defenders of Liberty or Champions of Security? Federal Courts, the Hierarchy of Justice, and U.S. Foreign Policy, also published by SUNY Press. Richard W. Waterman is Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky and the author of several books, including The Changing American Presidency: New Perspectives on Presidential Power.

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgments1. IntroductionAnecdotal Evidence of Statutory Influence on JudgesSystematic Statutory Influences on Judicial BehaviorMeasuring Legal FactorsOrganization of the Book2. Theoretical FoundationsApproaches to Interpretation and the Canons of Statutory ConstructionSeparation of Powers ModelsInfluence of Law and Ideology on Judicial BehaviorPlacing Judicial Decision Making into a Broader Theoretical ContextThe Model of Contingent DiscretionOperationalization of Statutory DiscretionConclusions3. U.S. Courts of AppealsHistorical Development of the Federal Appellate CourtsAnecdotal Evidence from Appeals Court JudgesEmpirical Analysis of Statutory InfluenceCircuit-Specific Analyses of Statutory InfluenceAn Alternative SpecificationConclusions4. The U.S. Supreme CourtHistorical Development of the Supreme CourtAnecdotal Evidence from Supreme Court JusticesEmpirical Evidence Analysis of Statutory InfluenceJustice-Specific Analyses of Statutory InfluenceAn Alternative SpecificationExamination of Statutes Under Judicial ReviewCorollary Analysis of Statutes and Unanimous DecisionsConclusions5. State Supreme CourtsInfluence of Law and Ideology on State Supreme CourtsAnecdotal Evidence from State Court JudgesEmpirical Analysis of Statutory InfluenceCorollary Analysis of Statutes and Judicial Elections/AppointmentsConclusions6. Temporal Analysis of Supreme Court BehaviorThe Temporal Nature of the LawEvolution of Congressional Statutory LanguageEmpirical Analysis of Statutory Influence versus Judicial AnnotationsCorollary Analysis of Statutes and Unanimous DecisionsConclusions7. Toward a New ParadigmSummary of Empirical EvidenceTheoretical and Substantive ImplicationsImportant CaveatsRemaining QuestionsAppendixNotesReferencesIndex

"Checking the Courts presents a way of conceptualizing how both the expressed preferences of lawmakers and a judge's own ideology influence judicial behavior, an idea that will interest any student of the judiciary." — Harvard Law Review"…the authors deserve much credit for the extensive and unquestionably time-consuming research reported in this book." — Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books