The consequences of certain decisions have repercussions far beyond those that affect the immediate cases. While this is an indisputable aspect of decisions from courts of last resort, prognosticating the potential consequences of decisions is an art fraught with questionable inferences. In a series of decisions the Supreme Court has a substantial policy impact. These…
Author: Dr. Adam Feldman
Ph.D. University of Southern California, Political Science
J.D., University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall)
A Chicken and Egg Problem
One of the more difficult questions facing Supreme Court scholars is trying to decipher the impact of the litigants. Given the secrecy with which the Supreme Court conducts the majority of its business, any effort towards understanding the decision making process is inevitably met with frustration. The most recent insight we have into any of…
A Difference of Opinion
Since Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Supreme Court in 2005, several pairs of justices have had notable disagreements in multiple cases. This is at least in part due to the justices’ polarity of viewpoints and interpretive methods. It nonetheless creates clear divisions on the Court as the justices have hardened viewpoints on many substantive issues…
The Invitation List
On January 18th, the Supreme Court released a short order requesting O’Melveny & Myers attorney Anton Metlitsky brief and argue the case of Lucia v. SEC supporting the decision below. The case examines whether administrative law judges of the Securities and Exchange Commission are officers of the United States within the meaning of the appointments clause….
A Lot at Stake: Amicus Filers 2017/2018
Whether they know it or not, large sectors of the population have interests in the outcomes of Supreme Court cases. With cases dealing with issues ranging from voting rights to owner’s rights in retail sales, many people are affected outside of the immediate parties to each case. These diverse interests along with more specific interests…
Looking Back to Make Sense of the Court’s (Relatively) Light Workload
There have been interesting discussions as of late regarding the Supreme Court’s light workload and how it is getting even lighter. Evidence of this decline can be found in quantitative analyses of the Supreme Court’s work. It is a not a subject addressed by any member of the Court. The Chief Justice, for example, did mention…
A New Era in SCOTUS Textualism
Legal interpretation begins with a legal text. At least in theory it does. While in practice this is not always the case, textualism has become synonymous with conservatism in recent Court eras primarily due to Justice Scalia’s reliance on the language of statutory texts. In practice, a textualist approach is not limited by judicial ideology and…
Something to Talk About
Oral arguments have always been central to Supreme Court adjudication. In early Supreme Court practice oral arguments were the primary means by which the justices learned about cases. Currently, oral arguments convey less original information to the justices, but still are helpful tools for the justices to learn about dimensions in each case not brought out…
Help a Justice Out
While Supreme Court justices are often guarded about how they come to their decisions, there are occasions where they are much more transparent. During oral argument, it is not uncommon for justices to bluntly say to an attorney “help me -” followed by a certain request. Instances where justices enlist attorneys’ help during oral argument present…
When I Bake My Masterpiece: Understanding the Justices’ Positions in Masterpiece Cakeshop Based on Oral Arguments
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission appears to be the Supreme Court case garnering the most public attention this term. The question in the case is whether a baker’s First Amendment rights (free speech and/or free expression) are violated when a law compels him to bake a cake for a couple in violation of his sincerely held…
Decisions, Decisions
The other day Mark Sherman of AP reported an interesting statistic via Twitter (Kimberly Robinson mentioned this stat in Bloomberg Big Law Business post as well): this term would be the Court’s slowest in recent years for releasing the first two orally argued decisions. I decided to examine the details behind this statistic, which I provide…
The Next Nominee to the Supreme Court
For all of the criticism the Trump Administration has received in recent weeks and months, one thing that Republicans almost universally agree upon is that President Trump has done well in reshaping the federal judiciary. This distinction even led to the genesis of stress balls with the caption “But Gorsuch!” distributed at the most recent Federalist…
Empirical SCOTUS 