Acclimation Effects and Separate Opinion Writing in the U.S. Courts of Appeals*

Objective. This article investigates the existence of a freshman effect on separate opinion authorship on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. First, we evaluate the extent to which freshman judges demonstrate unique behavior with respect to writing concurring and dissenting opinions. Second, we examine the potential for background factors to condition any freshman effect. Methods. Individual judges' decisions to author separate opinions, drawn from the Courts of Appeals Database (1960 to 1988), are modeled as a function of a host of individual‐ and circuit‐level factors, including the freshman status of the judge. Results. After controlling for alternative explanations, we find that freshman judges on the courts of appeals are less likely to author concurring and dissenting opinions. Prior federal or appellate court experience, however, does not appear to condition the freshman effect. Conclusion. Freshman circuit court judges experience significant acclimation effects following their elevation to the federal appellate bench.     

Acclimation Effects on the Supreme Court of Canada: A Cross‐Cultural Examination of Judicial Folklore*

Objective. Few public law theories developed to understand the decision making of U.S. courts have been examined in different cultural settings. This study examines the applicability of the “freshman effects” theory in the context of the Canadian Supreme Court. Methods. The article uses analysis of variance tests to examine changes in the voting and authorship patterns of 15 Canadian Supreme Court Justices during the Laskin, Dickson, and Lamer Court periods (1973–1999). Results. We find very little evidence of acclimation effects on the Canadian Supreme Court. However, through the Chief Justice's power to compose decision panels, Canadian justices in their first full year of service are assigned significantly fewer cases than in subsequent years of their career. Thus, Canadian justices are given time to acclimate to the high court through a lower workload, a luxury not afforded to U.S. justices. Conclusions. Theories of public law adopted to understand U.S. courts may be limited in their generalizability beyond the U.S. setting because of the institutional and political forces that shape judicial decision making in other courts.     

Friends of the Circuits: Interest Group Influence on Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals*

Objective. Though there is an extensive literature focused on the participation and efficacy of interest group amici curiae in the U.S. Supreme Court, there is little rigorous analysis of amici curiae in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Here, we systematically analyze the influence of amicus curiae briefs on U.S. Court of Appeals decision making to provide insights regarding both judicial decision making and the efficacy of interest groups. Methods. We use a probit model to capture influences on appellant success in the courts of appeals from 1997–2002. Results. We find that amicus briefs filed in support of the appellant enhance the likelihood of that litigant's probability of success, but that amicus briefs filed in support of the appellee have no effect on litigation outcomes. Conclusion. Amici can help level the playing field between appellants and appellees by serving to counter the propensity to affirm in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.     

Public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court: A new look at the impact of Court decisions

Judicial scholars have long debated the notion that Court decisions can influence the public's attitudes toward the U.S. Supreme Court. We engage this literature by introducing new dimensions to existing theory for predicting the impact of Court decisions on public confidence in the Court and by introducing innovative methods to test our hypotheses. We begin our analysis by examining the relationship between specific Court decisions and public confidence with aggregate time series data. Our analysis then shifts to an examination of individual-level survey data to examine the same hypotheses. Our results indicate that specific decisions can have a significant positive and negative impact on individual-level confidence in the Court. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for the theoretical and methodological debates over the influence of Court decisions on public confidence.     

Reconsidering the Impact of Jurisprudential Regimes*

Objectives. Recent work on Supreme Court decision making has argued that different areas of law demonstrate the creation of jurisprudential regimes, which alter the importance of different case facts to the justices, suggesting that the justices do alter their behavior in response to changes in the law. However, the work on jurisprudential regimes has suggested that all justices, or at least all justices who participate in establishing the regime, react similarly to the regime creation. Methods. I separate out the justices who support the establishment of the regime and those who oppose the establishment of the regime to test the hypothesis that majority and dissenting justices react differently to the creation of jurisprudential regimes. Results. Both sets of justices react to the establishment of the regime, but the change in behavior of the dissenters occurs after that of the majority. Conclusions. These results suggest that the impact of jurisprudential regimes may be even more substantial than previously believed.     

Explaining High‐Profile Coverage of State Supreme Court Decisions*

Objective. In this article, we investigate the decision of media in the U.S. states to give high‐profile coverage to state supreme court decisions. While research on the U.S. Supreme Court has forged an association between media coverage and the political salience of court decisions, scholars have been unable to examine such coverage in the increasingly important state courts of last resort. Methods. Utilizing new data of high‐profile coverage over time in these courts, we examine the extent to which case characteristics, judicial behavior, and institutional variation influence media attention. Our empirical model covers 28,045 state supreme court cases over all 50 states, between the years 1995–1998. Results. Our findings indicate that the likelihood of high‐profile coverage increases when certain case characteristics, particularly declarations of unconstitutionality, are present, in addition to dissent within a court. Despite the importance of institutional differences among state supreme courts, front‐page coverage is not affected by this variation. Conclusions. In our conclusions, we evaluate those scenarios in which high‐profile media coverage is more likely for state supreme court cases, and the possible implications this may have for judicial politics.     

The dynamics of specific and diffuse support for the U.S. Supreme Court: A panel study

Prior inconsistencies in studies regarding specific and diffuse support for the U.S. Supreme Court have largely resulted from confusing two related yet distinct concepts: the level of diffuse support at a given moment, and change in the level of diffuse support over time. The results of a panel study show that specific support is related to both concepts but in different ways. Overall approval of the Supreme Court positively influences the level of diffuse support at a given moment. However, an individual's reaction to a particular Court decision is mediated by pre-existing ideological tension between the individual and the Court, and can cause a sudden change in that individual's diffuse support level. Post-stimulus diffuse support regeneration within an individual is related to support for democratic norms, awareness of the Court, and satisfaction with other governmental institutions.     

＂Democratization＂ of judicial interpretation and the Supreme Court＇s political function

最高人民法院发布新的关于司法解释工作的规定,明文确立了“公民动议司法解释立项”和“公开征求意见”的机制,从而在“民主化”的话语描述下,为其履行通过解释发展法律的政治功能建构了“表面上的民主合法性”,也使其能够在进行中国式司法解释（尤其是抽象司法解释）过程中广泛吸纳信息或知识。然而,“民主化”动向也给人留下最高人民法院无限贴近民意的印象,由此制造了使其很难在必要时进行独立、明智判断的困境。最高人民法院进行司法解释,需要在顺应民意和距离民意之间寻找适当的平衡,为此,不应再采取任何进一步“民主化”的措施。在有限范围内保留抽象司法解释,努力改革具体司法解释的内容、形式和相关制度,扩大具体司法解释适用的情形,让两种解释模式共存和竞争,以待未来的发展和选择,应是当前可取的策略。     

一个学理与实践中的难题——条约与协议在美国的直接适用与间接适用机理分析

国际条约和国际协议在美国有直接适用与间接适用之分.除了依据《宪法》第一条第7款和第二条第2款规定,缔结的条约和协议具有直接适用效力之外,总统依据国会授权缔结的协议中,哪些属于直接适用,哪些属于间接适用,在立法上没有明确规定,在实践中也是一个有争议的问题.国会在授权时与总统的协商甚至博弈,最高法院在此问题上的解释等,都是区分直接适用与间接适用的考量因素.这种立法规定的不确定性和司法解释的主观性使得区分直接适用和间接适用的标准变得模糊不清,同时也导致美国各级法院在适用条约和援引先例时的不精确性.因此,把握好这些区别以及了解其内在的机理特征,对于我们准确理解条约和协议在美国国内的效力与适用具有很强的现实意义.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGIES IN TRANSITIONAL CHINA --The Guidance Function of Cases of Misappropriation of Public Funds in Transitional ChinamWith the Reference to Criminal Trial of the Supreme People＇s Court of China as a Sample of Analysis

相对于贪污、受贿等传统型腐败犯罪,挪用公款罪不是常态性罪名,而是针对社会转型刑法应对的成果。该罪的立法、司法过程中存在着诸多纠结,这使得判例参考的价值凸显。最高人民法院十分重视对该罪判例的公布,这为现实裁决提供了指导和参考作用。最近10年所公布挪用公款罪判例折射出司法的重心是：注重主体身份的实质公务性、从形式合理性理解“归个人使用”、慎重解释“公款”的内涵。判例公布在有利于同案同判的同时,也成为促进理论与实践的助推器。     

All Politics is Not Local: National Forces in State Abortion Initiatives

Objective. Although research suggests that national forces can play a role in local and state elections, most of this work has only recently begun to examine the potential role of national forces in state or local ballot initiative or referenda elections. Methods. Our research addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the influence of national forces, such as the timing of elections, Supreme Court rulings, the activities of interest groups, and public opinion, on state direct legislation elections. We incorporate national forces into the morality politics framework and derive specific hypotheses. We then test these hypotheses by conducting a multivariate analysis of county–level voting patterns across 16 abortion–related direct legislation elections. Results. Our results confirm most of the hypotheses derived from the morality politics framework, including those concerning the role of national forces. Conclusions. Voting patterns on abortion tend to be influenced by the presence of presidential elections, Supreme Court rulings, interest–group activity, public opinion, partisanship, college education, and conservative religious forces. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on elections, abortion policy, and morality politics.     

Race and Redistricting: What the Print Media Conveys to the Public about the Role of Race

In a series of voting rights cases, the U.S. Supreme Court held that race-based redistricting, particularly the intentional formation of majority–minority districts (districts in which voters of color constitute a majority of eligible voters) may be unconstitutional if race was the predominant factor in the formation of the district. The Court stated that "redistricting legislation that is so bizarre on its face that it is unexplainable on grounds other than race" may violate the Constitution because of the messages such districts send to the public ( Shaw v. Reno , 1993 ). Yet neither the Court nor social scientists have examined whether the existence of race-conscious majority–minority districts sends messages to voters and what the nature of these messages may be. This research begins to address this scientific issue. In a quantitative content analysis, we examined messages about racial redistricting conveyed to citizens via the print media. Our sample consisted of 355 newspaper articles about redistricting included in the Lexis–Nexis database between 1990 and 2005. We found that newspaper coverage of racial districting contains messages to citizens about the motives involved in redistricting, the individuals and groups who are responsible for it, and its actual and expected effects. This finding is consistent with the Supreme Court's assumption that districts, particularly bizarrely shaped ones, convey distinct messages to voters. The specific messages communicated varied in important ways across the articles. Newspapers in states subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because of their history of discrimination against voters of color covered racial redistricting differently than states not subject to Section 5. We discuss the legal and theoretical implications of these findings for understanding the role of race in legislative redistricting efforts.     

刑事三审制与法院司法功能的重新配置

在权利保障与救济、法院职能分层设置及程序安定等众多理论基础的支持下,刑事三审制不仅具有建立的必要性也同时具有现实的可行性。在重构三审制时,应重新界定与配置各审级法院尤其是最高法院的司法功能和司法管辖权的行使范围。     

The Influence of Spanish‐Language Media on Latino Public Opinion and Group Consciousness*

Objective. This article determines if the use of Spanish‐language media among Latinos influences public opinion on various policy issues and group consciousness. Methods. Using a 2004 national public opinion survey of U.S. Latinos, a multivariate analysis is run to determine the effect of language media preference on immigration policy, abortion, same‐sex marriage, and three measures of group consciousness. Results. I find more frequent use of Spanish‐language media leads to more liberal attitudes toward immigration, but has no effect on opinions toward abortion and same‐sex marriage. I also find increased use of Spanish‐language media leads to increased levels of group consciousness. Conclusions. The differences in attitudes are due to the diverging goals of Spanish‐language and English‐language media. The effect of using Spanish‐language media serves to promote a sense of group consciousness among Latinos by reinforcing roots in Latin America and the commonalities among Latinos of varying national origin.     

生命价值观下的“同命同价”与“同命不同价”

我国目前正处于通过创制及健全相关民事立法——侵权责任法来积极应对各种事故导致人身与财产损害后果的关键时期。几年前最高人民法院关于人身侵权死亡赔偿的一个司法解释引发了社会上“同命同价”与“同命不同价”的激烈争论。生命双重价值观命题的提出对于理性回应“同命同价”与“同命：再同价”的质疑及剖析相关问题，具有一定的启示意义。     

Public Opinion and Dynamic Representation in the American States: The Case of Environmental Attitudes*

Objective. We investigate causal processes linking environmental conditions, attitudes, and policies in the American states: Is public opinion about ecology shaped by environmental conditions? Are state policymakers responsive to environmental opinions? Does public opinion respond to policy adoption? Methods. Using public opinion data from the DDB Worldwide Life Style Survey to measure aggregate state attitudes about the environment, as well as measures of water quality and policy intervention, we capture the dynamics of representation in the American states on the environment during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Results. Our findings support a thermostatic model of representation—state environmental opinions are influenced by environmental conditions and are responsive to policy outputs alongside improved environmental conditions. Conclusions. This model of the opinion‐policy linkage refines our understanding of representation and focuses us not just on the passage of public policy to address public desires, but the effectiveness of that policy as well.     

Rabbi Engagement with the Peace Process in the Middle East*

Objectives. Support for Israel has been a hallmark issue of the Jewish lobby in American politics. But what do Jewish religious leaders think about U.S. policy toward Israel and the peace process, and how often do they address these issues? Methods. Using a sample of more than 400 rabbis drawn from the four major movements of American Judaism in the fall of 2000, we investigate rabbi views of and speech about foreign affairs, especially about Israel. Results. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find considerable diversity in opinion among rabbis (if not public speech), particularly on issues concerning Israel and the peace process. Conclusions. We conclude that the Jewish community—really, several communities organized by movement—is hearing a diversity of opinions about the peace process. We argue that reference group theory and movement socialization help explain this diversity.     

转型时期司法中的民意现状与策略设计

中国转型时期,法官对司法中的民意采取了比较模糊的回应手法,缺乏对民意精细化和程序化的分析与运用,导致了司法公信力的缺失。因此,法官需要对民意进行灵活的识别,有针对性地回应。民意的回应策略需要坚持论辩主义精神,建立在程序主义基础之上。对法律方面的民意须保持警惕,并充分地解释;运用事实方面的民意还原事实真相,节约司法成本;思考结论性民意背后的推理逻辑,但不直接采纳结论性的意见;将制度建设的民意作为日后司法改革的参考资料。建立科学合理的媒体交流平台,需要媒体在民意与司法之间保持客观公正的立场与姿态,避免媒体的不当报道加剧司法与民意的矛盾。改善司法的运作模式和法官选任机制,降低日后回应民意的司法成本。     

Christian Fundamentalists and Public Opinion Toward the Middle East: Israel's New Best Friends?*

Objectives. Although Christian fundamentalist elites have become increasingly vocal in their support for Israel in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it is not clear that this rhetoric has produced differing attitudes about U.S. foreign policy in public opinion. This article examines whether such differences exist, and whether they are rooted in aspects of fundamentalist eschatology. Methods. Data from a national telephone survey on attitudes toward the Middle East conflict and U.S. policy were examined using multivariate regression and means comparisons. Results. These results demonstrate that Christian fundamentalists are the strongest supporters of Israel in America today. Fundamentalists have greater sympathy for Israel, oppose policies to pressure Israel, and are distinctive from all other groups in their high levels of support for continuing Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, as well as complete Israeli control of Jerusalem. Conclusion. Christian fundamentalists in America are distinctive on this vital issue in American foreign policy because of their literal interpretation of the Bible or their leaders' increased cues on Middle East policies, or both. This suggests that religion is now an important factor in understanding public opinion on U.S. foreign policy in the region.     

Inequities in Higher Education: Issues and Promising Practices in a World Ambivalent about Affirmative Action

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the legality of race-based affirmative action at universities in 2003. Although the decisions affirmed the legality of considering race in college admissions decisions, their long-term effects are not entirely clear. They neither resolved conflicts nor solved problems affirmative action was intended to address, namely, disparities in educational outcomes between Whites and ethnic/racial minorities. Although disparities have diminished since 1965, policies and practices to sustain and further increase diversity in higher education without affirmative action are needed. This article provides historical and conceptual grounding for this JSI issue, which examines approaches for attaining campus diversity. Collectively, the issue provides approaches for increasing diversity as well as strategies for managing and benefiting from diversity in postsecondary environments.