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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Second Dimension Of The Supreme Court, Joshua B. Fischman, Tonja Jacobi
The Second Dimension Of The Supreme Court, Joshua B. Fischman, Tonja Jacobi
William & Mary Law Review
Describing the Justices of the Supreme Court as liberals and conservatives has become so standard and the left-right division on the Court is considered so entrenched that any deviation from that pattern is treated with surprise. Attentive Court watchers know that the Justices are not just politicians in robes, deciding each case on a purely ideological basis. Yet the increasingly influential empirical legal studies literature assumes just that that a left-right ideological dimension fully describes the Supreme Court. We show that there is a second, more legally-focused dimension of judicial decision making. A continuum between legalism and pragmatism also divides …
Friendly Precedent, Anthony Niblett, Albert H. Yoon
Friendly Precedent, Anthony Niblett, Albert H. Yoon
William & Mary Law Review
This Article explores which legal precedents judges choose to support their decisions.When describing the legal landscape in a written opinion, which precedent do judges gravitate toward? We examine the idea that judges are more likely to cite friendly precedent. A friendly precedent, here, is one that was delivered by Supreme Court Justices who have similar political preferences to the lower court judges delivering the opinion. In this Article, we test whether a federal Court of Appeals panel is more likely to engage with binding Supreme Court precedent when the political flavor of that precedent is aligned with the political composition …
The Narrowing Of Federal Power By The American Political Capital, David Fontana
The Narrowing Of Federal Power By The American Political Capital, David Fontana
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
This Essay--prepared for a symposium hosted by the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal on the future of the District of Columbia--argues that American federal power can be better understood by considering the features of the metropolitan area that houses the most important parts of the American federal government. In other American metropolitan areas and in most capital metropolitan areas elsewhere in the world, local life features multiple and diverse industries. Washington is the metropolitan area that houses the most important parts of the American federal government, and Washington is dominated by the government and related industries. Washington is, …
The Partisanship Spectrum, Justin Levitt
The Partisanship Spectrum, Justin Levitt
William & Mary Law Review
In a polarized political environment, allegations of excessive partisanship by public actors are ubiquitous. Commentators, courts, and activists levy these allegations daily. But with remarkable consistency, they do so as if “partisanship” described a single phenomenon. This Article recognizes that the default mode of understanding partisanship is a descriptive and diagnostic failure with meaningful consequences. We mean different things when we discuss partisanship, but we do not have the vocabulary to understand that we are talking past each other.
Without a robust conceptualization of partisanship, it is difficult to treat pathologies of partisan governance. Indeed, an undifferentiated approach to partisanship …
Jury Ignorance And Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin
Jury Ignorance And Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
Lawmakers As Lawbreakers, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov
Lawmakers As Lawbreakers, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov
William & Mary Law Review
How would Congress act in a world without judicial review? Can
lawmakers be trusted to police themselves? This Article examines
Congress’s capacity and incentives to enforce upon itself “the law of
congressional lawmaking”—a largely overlooked body of law that is
completely insulated from judicial enforcement. The Article explores
the political safeguards that may motivate lawmakers to engage in
self-policing and rule-following behavior. It identifies the major
political safeguards that can be garnered from the relevant legal,
political science, political economy, and social psychology scholarship,
and evaluates each safeguard by drawing on a combination of
theoretical, empirical, and descriptive studies about …
Un-Neighborly Conduct: Why Can't Virginia Beach And North Carolina Be Friends?, Paul Schmidt
Un-Neighborly Conduct: Why Can't Virginia Beach And North Carolina Be Friends?, Paul Schmidt
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
No abstract provided.
Loyal Lieutenant, Able Advocate: The Role Of Robert H. Jackson In Franklin D Roosevelt's Battle With The Supreme Court, Stephen R. Alton
Loyal Lieutenant, Able Advocate: The Role Of Robert H. Jackson In Franklin D Roosevelt's Battle With The Supreme Court, Stephen R. Alton
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Robert H. Jackson played a highly visible role in Franklin D. Roosevelt's failed "court packing plan. " Roosevelt's legislation would have increased the size of the Supreme Court and could have dramatically altered the functioning of our government. Jackson supported the plan from his post as Assistant Attorney General. This Article uses a chronological narrative to examine Jackson's role in Roosevelt's court fight. The Article examines his role in light of the surrounding history and the tension between the backers of the New Deal and the Supreme Court. Jackson's testimony before the …
Constiutional Law - Free Speech - Judicial Review Of Qualifications Of Legislators - Bond V. Floyd, 87 S. Ct. 339 (1966), Karen Atkinson
Constiutional Law - Free Speech - Judicial Review Of Qualifications Of Legislators - Bond V. Floyd, 87 S. Ct. 339 (1966), Karen Atkinson
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.