Showing papers by "Donald R. Songer published in 2012"
TL;DR: This article examined the responsiveness of state supreme courts to public opinion in the majority opinion and found that the responsiveness was limited by the fact that the actual policy adopted by the majority was not studied.
Abstract: Studies of policy making by courts need to examine the actual policy adopted in the majority opinion rather than studying votes. The authors examine the responsiveness of state supreme courts to pr...
32 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: According to the Attitudinal model, justices on the United States Supreme Court decide cases based solely on their political preferences as discussed by the authors, and if the model is an adequate explanation of judicial behavior, then the justices should overturn any precedents that were inconsistent with their policy preferences.
Abstract: According to the Attitudinal Model, justices on the United States Supreme Court decide cases based solely on their political preferences. Law and precedent, these advocates say, provide no constraint. If the Attitudinal Model is an adequate explanation of judicial behavior, then the justices should overturn any precedents that were inconsistent with their policy preferences. However, an examination of Supreme Court treatment of 120 liberal precedents of the Warren Court finds that subsequent conservative courts failed to overturn a large majority of these precedents even after the political preferences of the Court favored overturning those precedents. This finding raises serious questions about the adequacy of the Attitudinal Model.
3 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative importance of personal, institutional and political factors on the decision of a judge to retire from judicial service was explored, and the career patterns of all judges appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom were examined.
Abstract: In this study, we test theories of judicial retirement developed in the U.S. to study analogous patterns of retirement in the top appellate courts in the countries of Canada and the United Kingdom. In particular, we explore the relative importance of personal, institutional and political factors on the decision of a judge to retire from judicial service. Using survival analysis to examine the career patterns of all judges appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada (1875-2012), as well as the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom (1875-2009), we find that these judges either choose to stay on the court as long as possible (i.e., until they die or reach mandatory retirement age) or they retire for personal reasons.
1 citations