Lee Epstein : Research

Introduction to the Course
1. Collaboration between Law and Social Science
2. Paper Assignments
Introduction to the Supreme Court
1. Overview of Processes and Procedures
2. Sketch of the Court
Introduction to Social Science Methods for Analyzing the Court

Readings

(Required for I.C) Adam Liptak, Court Under Roberts Is Most Conservative in Decades, N.Y. Times, July 24, 2010. Be sure to look at the graphs, here.
(Recommended for I.C) Lee Epstein and Gary King, The Rules of Inference, 69 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1 (2002).

II. Getting On and Off the Court
(August 29, September 12)

Readings

(Required for II.A) Steven G. Calabresi & James T. Lindgren, Term Limits for the Supreme Court, 29 Harv. J. Law & Pub. Pol'y 769 (2006)
(Required for II.B) Epstein & Segal, Advice and Consent, Chapter 2
(Required for II.C) Epstein & Segal, Advice and Consent, Chapters 3-4
(Recommended for II.C) Brian J. Moraski & Charles R. Shipan, The Politics of Supreme Court Nominations: A Theory of Institutional Choice and Constraints. 43 Am. J. Pol. Sci. 1069 (1999)
(Required for II.D) Lee Epstein, William M. Landes & Richard A. Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges, Chapter 8
(Recommended for II.D) Lee Epstein, Jack Knight, & Andrew Martin, The Norm of Prior Judicial Experience and Its Consequences for Career Diversity on the U.S. Supreme Court. 91 Calif. L. Rev. 903 (2003)

III. Getting Into the Court
(September 19, September 26)

Access to the Court: A Look at the Process
Explaining the Decision to Grant or Deny Cert
1. What the Court Says
2. What Legal Scholars Say

Readings

(For Background) Digital Archive of the Papers of Harry A. Blackmun
(Required for III.B) Perry, Deciding to Decide, entire book
(Required for III.B) Gregory A. Caldeira & John R. Wright, Organized Interests and Agenda Setting in the U.S. Supreme Court, 82 Am. Pol. Sci. Rev. 1109 (1988)

IV. Approaches to Judging
(September 26, October 3, October 10, October 17)

Overview of the Approaches
The Legal Model
Ideology
Strategic Accounts
The Internal Context of Judging
The External Context of Judging

Readings

(Required for IV.A): Lee Epstein, William M. Landes & Richard Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges, Introduction and Chapter 1
(Required for IV.B): Jeffrey A. Segal & Harold J. Spaeth, The Influence of Stare Decisis on the Vote of United States Supreme Court Justices, 40 Am. J. Pol. Sci. (1996)
(Required for IV.C): Jeffrey A. Segal & Harold J. Spaeth, The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited 86-97, 312-326 (2002).
(Required for IV.D1) Excerpts of Reed v. Reed (1971), Frontiero v. Richardson (1973), Craig v. Boren (1976)
(Required for IV.D1) Epstein & Knight, The Choices Justices Make, Chapters 1-3
(Required for IV.D2) Epstein & Knight, The Choices Justices Make, Pp. 112-117, Chapter 5
(Recommended for IV.D2): William N. Eskridge, Jr., Reneging on History: Playing the Court/Congress/President Civil Rights Game, 79 Cal. L. Rev. 613 (1991)
[First Essay Due on October 3, 2011]

V. Leadership on the Court: The Role of the Chief Justice
(October 17, October 24)

Overview of the Chief Justice of the United States

Opinion Assignment

Appointment Power

Readings:

(Required for V.B) Forest Maltzman & Paul J. Wahlbeck, May It Please the Chief? Opinion Assignments in the Rehnquist Court, 40 American Journal of Political Science 42 (1996)

(Recommended for V.C) Theodore W. Ruger, The Judicial Appointment Power of the Chief Justice, 7 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 341 (2004)

VI. Lawyering: The Role of Oral Arguments and Briefs
(October 24, October 31)

Lessons from the Brown Campaign

The Solicitor General

The Supreme Court Bar

Oral Argument & Briefs

Readings

(Required for VI.B) Richard Lazarus, Advocacy Matters Before and Within the Supreme Court. 96 Georgetown L.J. (2008).

(Required for VI.D) Timothy R. Johnson, et al. The Influence of Oral Arguments on the U.S. Supreme Court, 100 Am. Pol. Sci. Rev. 99 (2006)

(Required for VI.D) Linda Greenhouse, What Got into the Court? The Williams Timbers Lecture, Dartmouth College (2003)

[Second Essay Due on November 7]

VII. The Court and the Public
(November 7, November 14)