Journal Articles

Uncertain Precedent: Circuit Court Responses to Supreme Court Plurality Opinions

---

To what extent do lower court judges follow Supreme Court plurality opinions? By examining treatments of Supreme Court cases from the 1976-1986 terms by the Circuit Courts of Appeals from 1976 to 2005, this article addresses the consequences of the Supreme Court's failure to reach a clear majority decision. I find evidence that lower courts are less likely to follow plurality opinions than majority opinions. These findings have implications regarding the authority of the Supreme Court, compliance, and institutional legitimacy.

---

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information

Series Title

American Politics Research

Call Number

-

Publisher

Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publication., 2009

Collation

-

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

1532-673x

Classification

-

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

Vol. 37, No. 1, January 2009.pp. 30-49

Subject(s)

Supreme court
Circuit courts of appeals
Plurality opinions
Majority opinions
Institutional legitimacy
Uncertain Precedent

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment