Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Courting the President: How Circuit Court Judges Alter Their Behavior for Promotion to the Supreme Court

Courting the President: How Circuit Court Judges Alter Their Behavior for Promotion to the... We examine whether circuit court judges sacrifice policy purity for career goals. We compare the behavior of contender judges–those most likely to be elevated to the Supreme Court–during vacancy periods with their behavior outside vacancy periods. We also examine the behavior of noncontender judges during those same times. The data show that during vacancy periods, contender judges are more likely to vote consistently with the president's preferences, to rule in favor of the United States, and to write dissenting opinions. Noncontender judges fail to evidence such behavior. These findings provide empirical support for the argument that federal judges adapt their behavior to specific audiences, and provide new avenues for research into judges' goals and the role of audiences in judicial decision making. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Political Science Wiley

Courting the President: How Circuit Court Judges Alter Their Behavior for Promotion to the Supreme Court

Download PDF
14 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/courting-the-president-how-circuit-court-judges-alter-their-behavior-B1KT60Ssuk
Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
©2016 by the Midwest Political Science Association
ISSN
0092-5853
eISSN
1540-5907
DOI
10.1111/ajps.12132
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

We examine whether circuit court judges sacrifice policy purity for career goals. We compare the behavior of contender judges–those most likely to be elevated to the Supreme Court–during vacancy periods with their behavior outside vacancy periods. We also examine the behavior of noncontender judges during those same times. The data show that during vacancy periods, contender judges are more likely to vote consistently with the president's preferences, to rule in favor of the United States, and to write dissenting opinions. Noncontender judges fail to evidence such behavior. These findings provide empirical support for the argument that federal judges adapt their behavior to specific audiences, and provide new avenues for research into judges' goals and the role of audiences in judicial decision making.

Journal

American Journal of Political Science – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 2016

References

  • The Big Kozinski
    Bazelon, Bazelon
  • Overruled: An Event History Analysis of Lower Court Reaction to Supreme Court Alteration of Precedent
    Benesh, Benesh; Reddick, Reddick
  • Consider the Source (and the Message): Supreme Court Justices and Strategic Audits of Lower Court Decisions
    Black, Black; Owens, Owens
  • Assessing the Applicability of Strategic Theory to Explain Decision Making on the Court of Appeals
    Bowie, Bowie; Songer, Songer
  • Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging
    Boyd, Boyd; Epstein, Epstein; Martin, Martin
  • The Interplay of Preferences, Case Facts, Context, and Rules in the Politics of Judicial Choice
    Brace, Brace; Hall, Hall
  • Term Limits for the Supreme Court: Life Tenure Reconsidered
    Calabresi, Calabresi; Lindgren, Lindgren
  • Explaining Judicial Behavior or What's ‘Unconstituitional’ about the Sentencing Commission?
    Cohen, Cohen
  • The Motives of Judges: Empirical Evidence from Antitrust Sentencing
    Cohen, Cohen
  • Decision Making in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
    Cross, Cross
  • Judicial Partisanship and Obedience to Legal Doctrine: Whistleblowing on the Federal Courts of Appeals
    Cross, Cross; Tiller, Tiller
  • The Effects of Collegiality on Judicial Decision Making
    Edwards, Edwards
  • The Supreme Court during Crisis: How War Affects Only Non‐War Cases
    Epstein, Epstein; Ho, Ho; King, King; Segal, Segal
  • The Judicial Common Space
    Epstein, Epstein; Martin, Martin; Segal, Segal; Westerland, Westerland
  • Overriding Supreme Court Statutory Interpretation Decisions
    Eskridge, Eskridge
  • The Dynamics and Determinants of the Decision to Grant En Banc Review
    George, George
  • Picking Federal Judges: A Note on Policy and Partisan Selection Agendas
    Giles, Giles; Hettinger, Hettinger; Peppers, Peppers
  • The Etiology and Occurrence of En Banc Review in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Giles, Giles; Hettinger, Hettinger; Zorn, Zorn; Peppers, Peppers
  • Constituent Influence in State Supreme Courts: Conceptual Notes and a Case Study
    Hall, Hall
  • Electoral Politics and Strategic Voting in State Supreme Courts
    Hall, Hall
  • Justices as Representatives: Elections and Judicial Politics in the American States
    Hall, Hall
  • Separate Opinion Writing on the United States Courts of Appeals
    Hettinger, Hettinger; Lindquist, Lindquist; Martinek, Martinek
  • Comparing Attitudinal and Strategic Accounts of Dissenting Behavior on the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Hettinger, Hettinger; Lindquist, Lindquist; Martinek, Martinek
  • Explaining the Incidence and Timing of Congressional Responses to the U.S. Supreme Court
    Hettinger, Hettinger; Zorn, Zorn
  • Matching as Nonparametric Preprocesssing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference
    Ho, Ho; Imai, Imai; King, King; Stuart, Stuart
  • Did Liberal Justices Invent the Standing Doctrine–An Empirical Study on the Evolution of Standing, 1921–2006
    Ho, Ho; Ross, Ross
  • Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding
    Iacus, Iacus; King, King; Porro, Porro
  • Causal Inferences without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching
    Iacus, Iacus; King, King; Porro, Porro
  • Presidential Capital and the Supreme Court Confirmation Process
    Johnson, Johnson; Roberts, Roberts
  • Pivotal Politics, Presidential Capital, and Supreme Court Nominations
    Johnson, Johnson; Roberts, Roberts
  • Panel Composition and Voting on the U.S. Courts of Appeals over Time
    Kastellec, Kastellec
  • Fear of Reversal as an Explanation of Lower Court Compliance
    Klein, Klein; Hume, Hume
  • The Real Issues of Judicial Ethics
    Kozinski, Kozinski
  • Strategic Judicial Lawmaking: Ideology, Publication, and Asylum Law in the Ninth Circuit
    Law, Law
  • Strategic Citations to Precedent on the U.S. Supreme Court
    Lupu, Lupu; Fowler, Fowler
  • The Rise of the Choral Court: Use of Concurrences in the Burger and Rehnquist Courts
    Maveety, Maveety; Turner, Turner; Way, Way
  • The Politics of Supreme Court Nominations: A Theory of Neoinstitutional Constraints and Choices
    Moraski, Moraski; Shipan, Shipan
  • Signaling and Precedent in Federal District Court Opinions
    Morriss, Morriss; Heise, Heise; Sisk, Sisk
  • Explaining the Supreme Court's Shrinking Docket
    Owens, Owens; Simon, Simon
  • Predicting Drift on Politically Insulated Institutions: A Study of Ideological Drift on the U.S. Supreme Court
    Owens, Owens; Wedeking, Wedeking
  • Judicial Behavior and Performance: An Economic Approach
    Posner, Posner
  • Where You Stand Depends on Who Sits: Platform Promises and Judicial Gatekeeping in the Federal District Courts
    Rowland, Rowland; Todd, Todd
  • Creating Legal Doctrine
    Rubin, Rubin; Feeley, Feeley
  • Taking It to the Next Level: The Elevation of District Court Judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals
    Savchak, Savchak; Hansford, Hansford; Songer, Songer; Manning, Manning; Carp, Carp
  • Dissents
    Scalia, Scalia
  • Charting the Influences on the Judicial Mind: An Empirical Study of Judicial Reasoning
    Sisk, Sisk; Heise, Heise; Morriss, Morriss
  • Integrating Alternative Approaches to the Study of Judicial Voting: Obscenity Cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Songer, Songer; Haire, Haire
  • Ideological Voting on Federal Courts of Appeals: A Preliminary Investigation
    Sunstein, Sunstein; Schkade, Schkade; Ellman, Ellman
  • The Development of a Legal Rule: The Federal Common Law of Public Nuisance
    Wahlbeck, Wahlbeck
  • The Politics of Dissents and Concurrences on the U.S. Supreme Court
    Wahlbeck, Wahlbeck; Spriggs, Spriggs; Maltzman, Maltzman
  • Disagreement on the Rehnquist Court: The Dynamics of Supreme Court Concurrence
    Way, Way; Turner, Turner
  • Strategic Defiance and Compliance in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Westerland, Westerland; Segal, Segal; Epstein, Epstein; Cameron, Cameron; Comparato, Comparato
  • Dress Rehearsal Politics and the Case of Earmarked Judicial Nominees
    Yalof, Yalof
  • The Rise of the Choral Court: Use of Concurrences in the Burger and Rehnquist Courts
    Maveety, Nancy; Turner, Charles C.; Way, Lori Beth
  • The Politics of Supreme Court Nominations: A Theory of Neoinstitutional Constraints and Choices
    Moraski, Bryon J.; Shipan, Charles R.
  • Signaling and Precedent in Federal District Court Opinions
    Morriss, Andrew P.; Heise, Michael; Sisk, Gregory C.
  • Strategic Selection: President Nomination of Supreme Court Justices from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush
    Nemacheck, Christine
  • Explaining the Supreme Court's Shrinking Docket
    Owens, Ryan J.; Simon, David A.
  • Predicting Drift on Politically Insulated Institutions: A Study of Ideological Drift on the U.S. Supreme Court
    Owens, Ryan J.; Wedeking, Justin
  • Between Law and Politics: The Solicitor General and the Structuring of Race, Gender, and Reproductive Rights Litigation
    Pacelle, Richard
  • Decision Making by the Modern Supreme Court
    Pacelle, Richard L.; Curry, Brett W.; Marshall, Bryan W.
  • Judicial Behavior and Performance: An Economic Approach
    Posner, Richard A.
  • Where You Stand Depends on Who Sits: Platform Promises and Judicial Gatekeeping in the Federal District Courts
    Rowland, C. K.; Todd, Bridget Jeffery
  • Creating Legal Doctrine
    Rubin, Edward L.; Feeley, Malcolm
  • Taking It to the Next Level: The Elevation of District Court Judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals
    Savchak, Elisha Carol; Hansford, Thomas G.; Songer, Donald R.; Manning, Kenneth L.; Carp, Robert A.
  • Dissents
    Scalia, Antonin S.
  • The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited
    Segal, Jeffrey A.; Spaeth, Harold J.
  • Charting the Influences on the Judicial Mind: An Empirical Study of Judicial Reasoning
    Sisk, Gregory C.; Heise, Michael; Morriss, Andrew P.
  • Integrating Alternative Approaches to the Study of Judicial Voting: Obscenity Cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Songer, Donald R.; Haire, Susan
  • Ideological Voting on Federal Courts of Appeals: A Preliminary Investigation
    Sunstein, Cass R.; Schkade, David; Ellman, Lisa Michelle
  • The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
    Toobin, Jeffrey
  • The Development of a Legal Rule: The Federal Common Law of Public Nuisance
    Wahlbeck, Paul J.
  • The Politics of Dissents and Concurrences on the U.S. Supreme Court
    Wahlbeck, Paul J.; Spriggs, James F.; Maltzman, Forrest
  • Disagreement on the Rehnquist Court: The Dynamics of Supreme Court Concurrence
    Way, Lori Beth; Turner, Charles C.
  • Strategic Defiance and Compliance in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
    Westerland, Chad; Segal, Jeffrey A.; Epstein, Lee; Cameron, Charles; Comparato, Scott
  • Dress Rehearsal Politics and the Case of Earmarked Judicial Nominees
    Yalof, David A.