Topic
Judicial opinion
About: Judicial opinion is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5300 publications have been published within this topic receiving 64803 citations.
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01 Jun 2007
49 citations
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22 Apr 1993
TL;DR: In this article, the European Community law and legal theory, institutional legal positivism legal norms and sources of law judicial decision making and social action approaches to judicial decision-making are discussed.
Abstract: Part 1 European Community law and legal theory: institutional legal positivism legal norms and sources of law judicial decision making and social action approaches to judicial decision making. Part 2 Legal justification and the European Court of Justice: on legal justification justification in clear cases justification in hard cases.
49 citations
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49 citations
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TL;DR: For instance, this paper analyzed the role of citations in judicial opinions and their significance, and found that political legitimation of decisions is a key determinant of citations, but that legal factors also matter.
Abstract: Supreme Court citations are rarely the subject of rigorous analysis. This Article presents an empirical examination of Supreme Court opinion citation practices since World War II, with a focus on the era from the Warren Court through the end of the Rehnquist Court. After theoretically analyzing the role of citations in judicial opinions and their significance, we explain how they may be used as a test of stare decisis and the Court’s projection of power and legitimation of its authority. We measure both the raw number of citations in majority opinions and the significance of the cases cited (using a calculation of their network centrality at the time of the decision). Various factors significantly influence citation frequency and choice, including the type of case. After controlling for these factors, we consider the relative citation practices of the Justices of the Court since the 1950s. This method allows us to find that political legitimation of decisions is a key determinant of citations, but that legal factors also matter. We also explore the citation practices of individual Justices. Our findings are consistent with the conventional wisdom in some instances, but serve to dispel other common beliefs. For example, we find that Justices Black and Douglas showed relatively little devotion to precedents but the Warren Court more generally was concerned about stare decisis. In the recent era, Justice Souter stands out for his citation practices. Finally, we examine the implications, on future citation use,
49 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, an integrated model of judicial policymaking and using this model to explain civil penalty severity in all environmental protection cases (published and unpublished) concluded in federal district courts from 1974-91.
Abstract: While recent research has improved dramatically our understanding of appellate judicial behavior in constitutional and criminal law, we know comparatively little about the majority of the decisions made by the federal judiciary: civil case decisions in federal district courts. Moreover, by relying upon published cases exclusively, this research may misrepresent those forces influencing the majority of judicial decisions. We address these shortcomings by outlining an integrated model of judicial policymaking and using this model to explain civil penalty severity in all environmental protection cases (published and unpublished) concluded in federal district courts from 1974-91. Additive and interactive heteroskedastic unit effect regression models demonstrate that penalty severity in environmental cases is affected by case and defendant characteristics, judicial policy preferences, the surrounding political context, and federal institutional actors. These models also demonstrate that political consideration...
49 citations