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  3. US Supreme Court Opinions and their Audiences
  • Cited by 48
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      05 February 2016
      06 April 2016
      ISBN:
      9781316480366
      9781107137141
      9781316502105
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316480366
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.43kg, 196 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.3kg, 196 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Area Studies, American Studies, US Law, American Government, Politics and Policy, Law, Politics and International Relations
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    Subjects:
    Area Studies, American Studies, US Law, American Government, Politics and Policy, Law, Politics and International Relations
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    Book description

    This book is the first study specifically to investigate the extent to which US Supreme Court justices alter the clarity of their opinions based on expected reactions from their audiences. The authors examine this dynamic by creating a unique measure of opinion clarity and then testing whether the Court writes clearer opinions when it faces ideologically hostile and ideologically scattered lower federal courts; when it decides cases involving poorly performing federal agencies; when it decides cases involving states with less professionalized legislatures and governors; and when it rules against public opinion. The data shows the Court writes clearer opinions in every one of these contexts, and demonstrates that actors are more likely to comply with clearer Court opinions.

    Reviews

    ‘The authors present a careful, creative, and wide-ranging inquiry into the causes and effects of clarity in Supreme Court opinions. Their striking findings about the conditions that lead to greater clarity have important implications for our understanding of how justices think about the writing of opinions.'

    Larry Baum - Ohio State University

    'For generations political scientists have studied who wins and loses in front of the US Supreme Court, focusing on dispute resolution rather than opinions the justices write. In US Supreme Court Opinions and their Audiences four leading political scientists study how the justices manipulate the clarity of opinions in light of their intended audiences, including lower courts, agencies, the states, and the people. This book is a must-read for any empirical legal scholar interested in taking law seriously in positive studies of Supreme Court behavior.'

    Andrew Martin - University of Michigan

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