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[Introduction To] The View From The Bench And Chambers: Examining Judicial Process And Decision Making On The U.S. Courts Of Appeals, Jennifer Barnes Bowie, Donald R. Songer, John Szmer

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For most of their history, the U.S. courts of appeals have toiled in obscurity, well out of the limelight of political controversy. But as the number of appeals has increased dramatically, while the number of cases heard by the Supreme Court has remained the same, the courts of appeals have become the court of last resort for the vast majority of litigants. This enhanced status has been recognized by important political actors, and as a result, appointments to the courts of appeals have become more and more contentious since the 1990s. This combination of increasing political salience and increasing political …