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Lower Court Influence on U.S. Supreme Court Opinion Content.
- Source :
-
Conference Papers -- Midwestern Political Science Association . 2009 Annual Meeting, p1. 32p. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- When the U.S. Supreme Court renders a decision, the Courtâs opinion becomes a binding precedent. Moreover, Supreme Court opinions serve as the foundation for the language attorneys utilize in their litigation efforts. Given the significance of Supreme Court opinions, it is surprising that scholars have dedicated little systematic research to investigating the factors that contribute to the content of the Courtâs opinions. In this paper, we examine whether, and under what conditions, lower courts influence the content of Supreme Court opinions. We argue that lower court opinions will influence the content of the Supreme Courtâs opinions based on a number of factors, including the ideological proximity of the lower court to the Supreme Court opinion author, the prestige of the lower court opinion author, and the Supreme Courtâs treatment of the lower courtâs disposition of the case. We use plagiarism software to compare lower court opinions with the majority opinions of the Supreme Court during the 2002-2004 terms in an effort to connect the language of lower court opinions to the language of Supreme Court opinions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ACTIONS & defenses (Law)
*POLITICAL doctrines
*LEGAL judgments
*JUDICIAL opinions
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Conference Papers -- Midwestern Political Science Association
- Publication Type :
- Conference
- Accession number :
- 45301786