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Full-Text Articles in Law
Does Judicial Philosophy Matter?: A Case Study, Francisco J. Benzoni, Christopher S. Dodrill
Does Judicial Philosophy Matter?: A Case Study, Francisco J. Benzoni, Christopher S. Dodrill
West Virginia Law Review
A leading theory in the study of judicial behavior is the attitudinal model. This theory maintains that a judge's political ideology can be used to predict how a judge will decide certain cases; other factors, such as the judge's judicial philosophy, tend to be unimportant. Under this theory, two judges with the same political ideology, but different judicial philosophies, should virtually always vote the same way in cases with predicted ideological outcomes. This manuscript tests the attitudinal model by examining opinions by two judges with very similar political ideologies but different judicial philosophies: Judge Michael Luttig and Judge Harvie Wilkinson …
Wilderness, The Courts And The Effect Of Politics On Judicial Decisionmaking, Peter A. Appel
Wilderness, The Courts And The Effect Of Politics On Judicial Decisionmaking, Peter A. Appel
Scholarly Works
Empirical analyses of cases from federal courts have attempted to determine the effect of judges’ political ideology on their decisions. This question holds interest for scholars from many disciplines. Investigating judicial review of the actions of administrative agencies should provide strong evidence on the question of political influence because applicable rules of judicial deference to administrative decisions ought to lead judges to reach politically neutral results. Yet several studies have found a strong correlation between results in these cases and proxies for political ideology. Cases involving the interpretation of environmental law have been of particular interest as a subset of …