Judicial politics in the United States

Judicial Politics in the United States examines the role of courts as policymaking institutions and their interactions with the other branches of government and other political actors in the U.S. political system. Not only does this book cover the nuts and bolts of the functions, structures and processes of our courts and legal system, it goes beyond other judicial process books by exploring how the courts interact with executives, legislatures, and state and federal bureaucracies. It also includes a chapter devoted to the courts' interactions with interest groups, the media, and general public opinion and a chapter that looks at how American courts and judges interact with other judiciaries around the world.

Judicial Politics in the United States balances coverage of judicial processes with discussions of the courts' interactions with our larger political universe, making it an essential text for students of judicial politics.

• Acknowledgments p. ix
• List of Figures p. xi
• 1 Functions of Courts, Basics of Legal Analysis, and Sources of Law p. 1
• Judicial Politics Denned p. 2
• Our Common Law Roots p. 4
• Differences Between the Common Law and Civil Law Traditions p. 6
• General Theories of Law p. 7
• Sources of Law in the United States p. 8
• Legal Reasoning and Legal Analysis p. 11
• Types of Court Cases p. 13
• Purposes of Courts in the United States p. 14
• Further Thoughts on the Power of Judicial Review p. 18
• Outline of the Remainder of the Book p. 26
• For Further Reading p. 27
• 2 Structure of Courts in the United States p. 29
• Trial Courts Versus Appellate Courts p. 30
• Federalism and the American Court Systems: A Historical Overview p. 35
• The Federal Court System p. 38
• The State Court System p. 44
• Limitations of the Federal Court System p. 50
• Chapter Summary p. 54
• For Further Reading p. 54
• 3 Judicial Selection p. 55
• Judicial Independence Versus Judicial Accountability p. 55
• The Selection Process for Federal Lower Court Nominees p. 57
• Presidential Approaches to Appointing Lower Court Judges p. 64
• Supreme Court Nominations p. 69
• State Judicial Selection Methods p. 73
• Recent Controversies in State Judicial Selection p. 76
• The U.S. Supreme Court on Judicial Elections p. 81
• Chapter Summary p. 82
• For Further Reading p. 83
• 4 The Legal Profession p. 85
• Law School p. 86
• The Changing Demographics of the Legal Profession p. 92
• Where Lawyers Work p. 93
• What Lawyers Do p. 97
• Access to Justice p. 100
• Lawyers as Judges p. 102
• Chapter Summary p. 107
• For Further Reading p. 108
• 5 Trial Courts: Criminal Cases p. 109
• Criminal Statutes and the Constitution p. 110
• Types of Crimes and Elements of a Crime p. 111
• Steps in the Criminal Trial Process p. 112
• Restricting the Sentencing Discretion of Judges p. 119
• Plea Bargaining p. 121
• Capital Punishment Cases p. 126
• Race Discrimination in the Criminal Justice Process p. 131
• Chapter Summary p. 132
• For Further Reading p. 133
• 6 Trial Courts: Civil Cases p. 135
• Types of Civil Cases p. 136
• Goals and Remedies in Civil Lawsuits p. 137
• Burdens of Proof in a Civil Case p. 140
• Steps in the Civil Case Process p. 140
• Juries and Jury Reform p. 146
• Alternatives to Going to Court p. 151
• Do the "Haves" Come Out Ahead? p. 154
• Chapter Summary p. 157
• For Further Reading p. 157
• 7 The Appellate Court Process p. 159
• The U.S. Supreme Court: Structure and Process p. 160
• Appellate Court Precedents p. 174
• Decision Making on Other Appellate Courts p. 175
• Implementation Issues p. 177
• Chapter Summary p. 180
• For Further Reading p. 180
• 8 Studying Decision Making on Appellate Courts p. 181
• Models of Judicial Decision Making p. 182
• Theories of Judicial Decision Making p. 190
• Governance as Dialogue Movement p. 200
• Chapter Summary p. 201
• For Further Reading p. 201
• 9 Public Opinion, Interest Groups, the Media, and the Courts p. 203
• Public Opinion and the Courts p. 203
• Interest Groups and the Courts p. 213
• The Media and the Courts p. 219
• Chapter Summary p. 224
• For Further Reading p. 224
• 10 Legislatures and the Courts p. 227
• Conflicts Between the Two Branches p. 228
• Legislative Oversight of Judicial Operations p. 231
• Legislative Reactions to Court Decisions p. 235
• Legislative Efforts to Curb the Courts p. 241
• State Legislatures and State Supreme Courts p. 245
• The Supreme Court and the Separation of Powers p. 248
• Chapter Summary p. 251
• For Further Reading p. 251
• 11 Executives and the Courts p. 253
• Major Historical Conflicts Between the President and the Supreme Court p. 253
• Modern-Day Conservative Attacks on the Supreme Court p. 260
• President Obama's Criticism of the Courts p. 263
• Routine Interactions between Executives and the Courts p. 265
• Governors and the Courts p. 269
• The U.S. Supreme Court and Presidential Power p. 271
• Chapter Summary p. 275
• For Further Reading p. 275
• 12 Courts and Governmental Bureaucracies p. 277
• Agency Decisions as a Source of Law p. 278
• Types of Federal Agencies p. 282
• Congressional and Presidential Oversight of Agency Actions p. 284
• Judicial Oversight of Federal Agencies p. 286
• The Federal Courts Versus State and Local Agencies p. 289
• The Supreme Court and Other Agency Issues p. 293
• Chapter Summary p. 294
• For Further Reading p. 295
• 13 Courts beyond the United States p. 297
• Common Law Versus Civil Law Courts: Differences and Similarities p. 297
• Using International Precedents in the U.S. Courts p. 306
• Interactions Among U.S. Judges and Foreign Judges p. 312
• Adversarial Legalism and Governance as Dialogue p. 316
• Chapter Summary p. 317
• For Further Reading p. 317
• Conclusion p. 319
• Glossary p. 325
• Notes p. 343
• Table of Cases p. 409
• Index p. 415