Stare Indecisis: The Alteration of Precedent on the Supreme Court, 1946–1992 - Softcover

Brenner, Saul; Spaeth, Harold J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052158552X ISBN 13: 9780521585521

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2006

Synopsis

The concept of precedent is basic to the operation of the legal system, and this book is a full-length empirical study of why US Supreme Court justices have chosen to alter precedent. It attempts to analyse those decisions of the Vison, Warren and Burger Courts, as well as the first six terms of the Rehnquist Court - a span of 47 years (1946-1992) - that formally altered precedent. The authors summarize previous studies of precedent and the Court, assess the conference voting of justices and compile a list of overruling and overruled cases. Additionally the authors draw a distinction between personal and institutional stare decisis. By using the attitudinal model of Supreme Court decision-making, which is normally seen as antithetical to the legal mode of voting, the authors find that it is the individual justices' ideologies which explain their voting behavior.

About this title

Book Description

This book analyses those decisions of the Vison, Warren and Burger Courts, as well as the first six terms of the Rehnquist Court - a span of 47 years (1946-1992) - that formally altered precedent.

From the Back Cover

Although the concept of precedent is basic to the operation of the legal system, there has not yet been a full-length empirical study of why U.S. Supreme Court justices have chosen to alter precedent. This book attempts to fill this gap by analyzing those decisions of the Vinson, Warren, and Burger Courts, as well as the first six terms of the Rehnquist Court - a span of 47 years (1946-1992) - that formally altered precedent. The authors summarize previous studies of precedent and the Court, assess the conference voting of justices, and compile a list of overruling and overruled cases. Additionally, the authors draw a distinction between personal and institutional stare decisis. By using the attitudinal model of Supreme Court decision making, which is normally seen as antithetical to the legal model of voting, the authors find that it is the individual justices' ideologies which explain their voting behavior.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 052158552X
• ISBN 13: 9780521585521
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 168