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Full-Text Articles in Law
Split Definitive: How Party Polarization Turned The Supreme Court Into A Partisan Court, Neal Devins, Lawrence Baum
Split Definitive: How Party Polarization Turned The Supreme Court Into A Partisan Court, Neal Devins, Lawrence Baum
Neal E. Devins
No abstract provided.
The Vanishing Common Law Judge, Neal Devins, David Klein
The Vanishing Common Law Judge, Neal Devins, David Klein
Neal E. Devins
The common law style of judging appears to be on its way out. Trial courts rarely shape legal policymaking by asserting decisional autonomy through distinguishing, limiting, or criticizing higher court precedent. In an earlier study, we demonstrated the reluctance of lower court judges to assert decisional autonomy by invoking the holding–dicta dichotomy. In this Article, we make use of original empirical research to study the level of deference U.S. district court judges exhibit toward higher courts and whether the level of deference has changed over time. Our analysis of citation behavior over an eighty-year period reveals a dramatic shift in …
The Supreme Court, Social Psychology, And Group Formation, Neal Devins, William Federspiel
The Supreme Court, Social Psychology, And Group Formation, Neal Devins, William Federspiel
Neal E. Devins
No abstract provided.
Ideological Cohesion And Precedent (Or Why The Court Only Cares About Precedent When Most Justices Agree With Each Other), Neal Devins
Neal E. Devins
This Article examines the profound role that ideological cohesion plays in explaining the Supreme Court's willingness to advance a coherent vision of the law - either by overruling precedents inconsistent with that vision or by establishing rule-like precedents intended to bind the Supreme Court and lower courts in subsequent cases. Through case studies of the New Deal, Warren, and Rehnquist Courts, this Article calls attention to key differences between Courts in which five or more Justices pursue the same substantive objectives and Courts which lack a dominant voting block. In particular, when five or more Justices pursue the same substantive …
How State Supreme Courts Take Consequences Into Account: Toward A State-Centered Understanding Of State Constitutionalism, Neal Devins
Neal E. Devins
No abstract provided.
Dicta, Schmicta: Theory Versus Practice In Lower Court Decision Making, David Klein, Neal Devins
Dicta, Schmicta: Theory Versus Practice In Lower Court Decision Making, David Klein, Neal Devins
Neal E. Devins
The distinction between dictum and holding is at once central to the American legal system and largely irrelevant. In the first systematic empirical study of lower court invocations of the distinction, we show that lower courts hardly ever refuse to follow a statement from a higher court because it is dictum. Specifically, federal courts of appeals meaningfully invoke the distinction in about 1 in 4000 cases; federal district courts in about 1 in 2000 cases; and state courts in about 1 in 4000 cases. In this Essay, we report these findings, describe our coding system, and offer a preliminary assessment …
Congressional Procedure And Statutory Interpretation, Larry Evans, Jarrell Wright, Neal Devins
Congressional Procedure And Statutory Interpretation, Larry Evans, Jarrell Wright, Neal Devins
Neal E. Devins
No abstract provided.
Congress, The Supreme Court, And Enemy Combatants: How Lawmakers Buoyed Judicial Supremacy By Placing Limits On Federal Court Jurisdiction, Neal Devins
Neal E. Devins
No abstract provided.