Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T00:44:15.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Measuring the Professionalization of U.S. State Courts of Last Resort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Peverill Squire
Peverill Squire*
Affiliation:
University of Missouri
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Elsewhere I have argued that measures of U.S. state legislative professionalization assess individual and organizational capacity to generate and evaluate information in the policymaking process. In this article, I adapt my measure of state legislative professionalization to state courts of last resort, attempting to assess the informational capacity of those bodies in making legal decisions. Specifically, I examine judicial salaries, a court's level of control over its docket, and the number of law clerks employed by the justices. After presenting four variants of the court professionalization measure and investigating their validity, I examine explanations for their observed variance across the states. I conclude by comparing my indices with existing indices and speculating about the utility of such measures.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , Fall 2008 , pp. 223 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Averill, Lawrence H. Jr. 1995. “The Arkansas Courts: Observations on the Wyoming Experience with Merit Selection of Judges.” University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal 17:281–328.Google Scholar
Berkowitz, Daniel, and Clay, Karen. 2006. “The Effect of Judicial Independence on Courts: Evidence from the American States.” Journal of Legal Studies 35:399–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumberg, David. 1998. “Influence of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on State High Court Decisionmaking 1982–1997: A Study in Horizontal Federalism.” Albany Law Review 61:1583–611.Google Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “‘Haves’ versus ‘Have Nots’ in State Supreme Courts: Allocating Docket Space and Wins in Power Asymmetric Cases.” Law & Society Review 35:393–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bullock, Richard P. 1991. “The Declaration of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974: The Louisiana Supreme Court and Civil Liberties.” Louisiana Law Review 51:787–820.Google Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A. 1983. “On the Reputation of State Supreme Courts.” Political Behavior 5:83–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A. 1985. “The Transmission of Legal Precedent: A Study of State Supreme Courts.” American Political Science Review 79:178–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canon, Bradley C., and Baum, Lawrence. 1981. “Patterns of Adoption of Tort Law Innovations: An Application of Diffusion Theory to Judicial Doctrines.” American Political Science Review 75:975–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, John M., Niemi, Richard G., and Powell, Lynda W.. 2000. “Incumbency and the Probability of Reelection in State Legislative Elections.” The Journal of Politics 62:671–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cauthen, James N. G. 2003. “Horizontal Federalism in the New Judicial Federalism: A Preliminary Look at Citations.” Albany Law Review 66:783–95.Google Scholar
Gilbertson, Seth Forrest. 2006. “New Hampshire: ”Live Free or Die,“ But in the Mean Time . ..” Albany Law Review 69:591–643.Google Scholar
Glick, Henry Robert, and Vines, Kenneth N.. 1973. State Court Systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gryski, Gerard S., Main, Eleanor C., and Dixon, William J.. 1986. “Models of State High Court Decision Making in Sex Discrimination Cases.” The Journal of Politics 48:143–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Peter. 1985. “Ecology and Culture in the Communication of Precedent among State Supreme Courts, 1870–1970.” Law & Society Review 19:449–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landau, Jack L. 2000. “Hurrah for Revolution: A Critical Assessment of State Constitutional Interpretation.” Oregon Law Review 79:793–890.Google Scholar
McIntosh, Wayne V., and Cates, Cynthia L.. 2001. “The Power of Judicial Ideas: A Tribute to Justice Hans Linde.” Albany Law Review 64:1147–54.Google Scholar
Motta, Christine M. 1997. “The Supreme Court of Alaska: Unique and Independent Like the People of the Last Frontier.” Albany Law Review 60:1727–50.Google Scholar
Rottman, David B., Raftery, William E., and Smith, Amy E.. 2007. Judicial Compensation in New York: A National Perspective. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.Google Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 1992. “Legislative Professionalization and Membership Diversity in State Legislatures.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 17:69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2000. “Uncontested Seats in State Legislative Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 25:131–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill. 2007. “Measuring Legislative Professionalism: The Squire Index Revisited.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 7:211–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, Peverill, and Hamm, Keith E.. 2005. 101 Chambers: Congress, State Legislatures, and the Future of Legislative Studies. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Joel A., and Moncrief, Gary F.. 1992. “The Evolution of the State Legislature: Institutional Change and Legislative Careers.” In Changing Patterns in State Legislative Careers, ed. Moncrief, Gary F. and Thompson, Joel A.. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Walsh, David J. 1997. “On the Meaning and Pattern of Legal Citations: Evidence from State Wrongful Discharge Precedent Cases.” Law & Society Review 31:337–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar