Including a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court, this study examines the American legal system. It extensively examines lower courts as well, providing separate chapters on state courts, the U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Analyzing these courts from a legal/extralegal framework, the book draws different conclusions about the relative influence of each based on institutional structures and empirical evidence. Finally, separate chapters on civil procedure, evidence, and criminal procedure provide exended coverage of the legal process.

Including a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court, this study examines the American legal system. It extensively examines lower courts as well, providing separate chapters on state courts, the U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Analyzing these courts from a legal/extralegal framework, the book draws different conclusions about the relative influence of each based on institutional structures and empirical evidence. Finally, separate chapters on civil procedure, evidence, and criminal procedure provide exended coverage of the legal process.

This book examines the influence of precedent on the behavior of the US Supreme Court justices throughout the Court's history. Supreme Court justices almost always "follow" precedent, in that they always cite precedents for the positions they take. Because there are always precedents on either side of a case for justices to follow, following precedent does not mean that the justices are ever influenced by precedent. Employing the assumption that for precedent to be an influence on the behavior of justices, it must lead to a result they would not otherwise have reached, the authors show that...

The Supreme Court Compendium is the only reference that presents historical and statistical information on every important aspect of the U.S. Supreme Court, including its history, development as an institution, the justices' backgrounds, nominations, and confirmations, and the Court's relationship with the public and other governmental and judicial bodies. The newest edition of this comprehensive reference includes important new perspective on the legacy of the Rehnquist court.

Authored by two leading scholars of the Supreme Court and its policy making, this study systematically presents and validates the use of the attitudinal model to explain and predict Supreme Court decision making. In the process, it critiques the two major alternative models of Supreme Court decision making and their major variants--the legal and rational choice. Using the U.S. Supreme Court Data Base, the justices' private papers, and other sources of information, the book analyzes the appointment process, certiorari, the decision on the merits, opinion assignments, and the formation of...

The Supreme Court Compendium provides historical and statistical information on the Supreme Court, including its institutional development, decision trends and its impact.