Supreme Court Justices and Supreme Court Nominations: Do Nomination Battles Affect the Decisions of Sitting Justices?

45 Pages Posted: 22 May 2007

See all articles by Matthew D. Mitchell

Matthew D. Mitchell

Fraser Institute; Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation; Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Date Written: May 21, 2007

Abstract

While the President and the Senate select a new Supreme Court justice, the Court often continues to announce decisions. These decisions are noteworthy because they come while an extraordinary amount of public and political attention is focused on the Court. If justices are concerned about approbation, then the extra attention raises the relative price they pay for unpopular decisions and may encourage them to accommodate public opinions in their voting. Using three measures of judicial output, I assess the impact of an announced retirement or death of a U.S. Supreme Court justice on the voting patterns of sitting members of the Court. I find that following an announced retirement or death, liberal justices are more likely to adopt positions which are unusual given their voting record. Additionally, conservative justices are more likely to find themselves in the majority. Vacancies also seem to make justices more reluctant to declare actions unconstitutional.

Keywords: supreme court, strategy, separation of powers, president, senate, ideological shirking

JEL Classification: D71, D72, K00, C50

Suggested Citation

Mitchell, Matthew D., Supreme Court Justices and Supreme Court Nominations: Do Nomination Battles Affect the Decisions of Sitting Justices? (May 21, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=987822 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.987822

Matthew D. Mitchell (Contact Author)

Fraser Institute ( email )

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Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation ( email )

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Mercatus Center at George Mason University ( email )

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Arlington, VA 22201
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HOME PAGE: http://meractus.org

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