Dr. Adam Feldman

Analysis of the Zubik Arguments

What was said over the course of the 90 minute the oral arguments today in Zubik? Quite a bit. Commentators seem to think the Justices may split their votes four to four (e.g. Adam Liptak from the New York Times) with the Justices predominately to the right: Kennedy, Alito, Thomas, and Roberts voting that the…

Much Ado About Nothing?

Today the Supreme Court decided the seemingly innocuous case of Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore. This case dealt with the liability of spousal guarantors under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. On any other day this ruling might have gone unnoticed. The decision is one line reading, “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided…

Each Case in Approximately Ten Words

Why approximately ten words? Well in reality it is in ten n-grams or phrases of one to a few words. The words not only provide a pithy synopsis of each case, but they also give the parties’ framings of the cases. I used a method known as keyword extraction to locate these phrases (more about…

The Last Leg of the Term

(image from loc.gov) The end of oral arguments for this Supreme Court Term is around the corner. With 21 cases left (not counting joined dockets in the same case) I compiled some stats on what is still to come. This post looks at the attorneys, firms, and parties in these 21 cases. There are two sections of…

Analyzing News Coverage of Merrick Garland’s Nomination

(image from NPR) With the help of a nifty tool piece of software that performs topic modeling, I distilled some of the major themes that appeared in national and local news covering the Garland nomination in print and online (this include several articles from some of the most widely read papers, e.g. New York Times…

How Does Garland Compare?

Courtesy of data from the Federal Judicial Center I have compiled statistics for each current Supreme Court Justice as well as for Justice Scalia and Judge Garland. This should give you some idea of how Garland compares to the current Justices as well as to the Justice who sat on the seat that he will potentially take….

The Age Effect

With a Supreme Court nominee most likely coming in the next day or so to fill Justice Scalia’s seat, there is much speculation on whether the choice will be Merrick Garland or Sri Srinivasan. If age has a large effect (which is often the case if Presidents wish to preserve their legacies after they leave…

Successful Cert Amici 2014

With 7,006 cases disposed of during the 2014 Supreme Court term, Supreme Court Justices and clerks had an abundance of cases on their plates. One way that the Justices and clerks find their way to the more important cases (specifically to cases that are important to people beyond the individual parties in the case) is…

Cert Winners 2014: Attorneys and Firms

Thinking of submitting a case to the Supreme Court? Most likely not. If so, be prepared to have your case rejected. The Supreme Court is extremely selective about the cases it hears typically only taking cases with circuit splits, of great importance, and with issues that have sufficiently percolated through the lower courts. The majority…

Oral Arguments in Nichols v. United States

Federal laws for registered sex offenders are designed to be clear – under the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) if you are on this list and you move residences you need to update your residency. And yet, what happens if you leave the United States? SORNA does not specify. This is the issue…

Top Briefs in Friedrichs v. CA Teachers Assn.

(image from Dover Teachers’ Union) With 48 amicus curiae briefs filed at the merits phase and a total of 57 amicus briefs filed throughout the case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (No. 14-915) has drawn much interest both from the public and from the policy community. It also provides the fodder I was looking for…

Comparing Opinions in Montgomery v. Louisiana

In the second in a series of posts where I analyze recent opinions, I compare the majority and dissenting opinions in Montgomery v. Louisiana (No. 14-280). The Court dealt with two questions in the case: Does the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, which held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory sentencing schemes…