Researching United States Supreme Court Justices

1. Researching United States Supreme Court Justices Law 590-201 Senior Seminar (Supreme Court Decisions) July 5, 2005 James E. Duggan

2. Why is it important? • Knowing a justice’s background may give you insight into how the justice thinks… • If you know what arguments a justice responds to, you can prepare briefs and oral arguments in an influential way. • Unlike juries, you cannot usually pick a court bench. But, you should think how the court views all aspects of your case as you would a jury.

3. Potential Predictors of Judicial Decisions • How have justices ruled in the past? What alliances have justices formed? • How have justices responded to arguments? • What questions have justices asked in oral arguments? • How have justices responded to briefs? • What have justices said in speeches? Other writings? Interviews?

4. Potential Predictors of Judicial Decisions • Biographical Information • Nomination/Confirmation Battles • What has been written about the justice • Political Science Studies/Supreme Court Forecasting Project • Personal Connections/Anecdotal Information

5. Getting Started: Researching the Supreme Court • Martin & Goehlert, How to Research the Supreme Court (CQ, 1992) • Stern, Gressman, Shapiro & Geller: Supreme Court Practice, 8th ed. (CQ, 2002) • Epstein, Segal, Spaeth & Walker, The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions & Development, 2nd ed. (CQ: 1996)

6. Getting Started: Researching the Supreme Court • Paddock, Facts about the Supreme Court of the United States (H.W. Wilson & Co., 1996) • Bader & Mersky, The First One Hundred Eight Justices (W.S. Hein & Co., 2004)

7. Getting Started: Researching the Supreme Court • Lambert, U.S. Supreme Court Research-Select Internet Sites (on LLRX) • Official U.S. Supreme Court Website

10. How Have Justices Ruled in the Past? • Search for their opinions on LexisNexis & Westlaw • LexisNexis: Use Segment Search: Opinionby, Writtenby, Dissentby, Concurby • Westlaw: Use Field Search: JU (judge), CON (Concurring), DIS (dissenting) • Remember to search for opinions prior to service on Supreme Court; may also want to search for cases they argued as attorneys

11. What Alliances Have Justices Formed? • LexisNexis and Westlaw Search: Look at who joins the justice in the opinion (concurrence, dissent, etc.) • Look at commentary about Court in newspapers, legal journals, etc. • See postings on SCOTUSblog (linked from SIU Law Library webpage)

13. Justices: Oral Arguments & Responses • Look at texts of oral arguments: • http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ • Official transcript proceedings before the Supreme Court of the United States [SIU microform] • May it please the court [sound recording] : the most significant oral arguments made before the Supreme Court since 1955 • OYEZ-U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia

15. Briefs • LexisNexis & Westlaw • http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ • http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/home.html • Landmark briefs and arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States (SIU) • U. S. Supreme Court records and briefs [microform]

16. Speeches, Writings, Interviews • Check Index to Legal Periodicals • Checks News files on both LexisNexis & Westlaw • See Partin’s Supreme Court Research Guide & Bibliography • Book Example: Sandra Day O’Connor, The Majesty of the Law (Random House, 2003) • Historically, locate papers collections (generally at major universities)

19. Biographical Information • Friedman and Israel, The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions (Vol. V, Chelsea House, 1995) • The American Bench: Judges of the Nation • Almanac of the Federal Judiciary • Be careful, though…

21. Biography Examples • Andrew Peyton Thomas, Clarence Thomas: a Biography (Encounter Books, 2001) • Nancy Maveety, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: Strategist on the Supreme Court (Rowan & Littlefield, 1996)

22. Nomination/Confirmation Battles • Lots of information surfaces at a confirmation hearing: • Newspaper/Media files (LexisNexis/Westlaw) • Mersky & Jacobstein, The Supreme Court of the United States : hearings and reports on successful and unsuccessful nominations of Supreme Court Justices by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 1916-1993(W.S. Hein & Co, 1993-1995).

23. About the Justice: Books, Articles, etc. • Use various indexes/databases to search for materials: • OCLC First Search • Library Catalogs • Periodical Indexes (ILP, LegalTrac, etc.) • Silverburg, Index to Law School Theses & Dissertations (W.S. Hein & Co., 1995) • Comprehensive Dissertation Index (Law & Political Science; Social Sciences and Humanities)

25. About the Justice: Books, Articles, etc. Examples • Epstein & Knight, The Choices Justice Make (CQ Press, 1998) • Johnson, Oral Arguments and Decision Making on the United States Supreme Court (SUNY Press, 2004) • Cooper & Ball, The United States Supreme Court: From the Inside Out (Prentice Hall, 1996)

26. About the Justice: Books, Articles, etc. Examples • Perry, “The Supremes”: Essays on the Current Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (Peter Lang, 1999) • Clayton & Gillman, Supreme Court Decision Making: New Institutionalist Approaches (University of Chicago Press, 1999)

27. About the Justice: Books, Articles, etc. Examples • Segal & Spaeth, The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited (Cambridge University Press, 2002) • Savage, Turning Right: The Making of the Rehnquist Supreme Court (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992).

28. Political Science Studies/Forecasting Models • See Morris Library’s Social Science Indexes for political science journal articles, etc.

31. Forecasting Models

34. Personal Connections/Anecdotal Information • Who do you know? • Clerks/other Employees • Attorneys who have argued before the Supreme Court • Who can you hire? • Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute