Longman / Prentice Hall
Political Science
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Courts and Judicial Policymaking
ISBN-10: 0131443496
ISBN-13: 9780131443495
Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2008
Format: Paper; 384 pp
Published: 12/18/2006
Status: Instock
For courses in courts and the judicial process; and law and society. The scope of its coverage, and its high academic quality, makes it attractive for graduate courses as well.
Christopher P. Banks and David M. O'Brien wrote Courts and Judicial Policymaking to fill a need for a comprehensive textbook on law and judicial policymaking. The text provides a fresh perspective on the contemporary politics of law, courts, the legal profession, and judicial policymaking, often with an underlying comparative judicial process perspective. It covers four distinct areas: 1) What is law?; 2) How are courts organized and how do they work procedurally?; 3) What influences court access and, ultimately, judicial decision-making?; and, 4) How do courts make policy, and how is judicial authority constrained? It has relevant and contemporary analyses of literature from the political science and legal fields; and analyses from scholars who argue from the quantitative (attitudinal and strategic models) and the qualitative (new institutionalism) perspectives. It contains up-to-date charts and graphs on the organization of courts and trends in litigation, caseloads, and opinion writing, and it is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate classes.
Feedback includes:
“The book is extremely well written and organized, one of the smoothest textbooks I have read in terms of readability. The tables provided are a major selling point for the book – nicely summarize complex and often confusing materials." – Roger Handberg, University of Central Florida
“The best feature of this manuscript is its thorough coverage of the subject matter as well as the in-depth analysis of specific topics and questions addressed in the boxed material and sidebars. Adding a comparative dimension by looking at the judicial systems and procedures of other countries is also quite novel.” – Susan Mezey, Loyola University, Chicago
How do you provide your students with a comprehensive treatment of key issues of judicial law and politics?
Extremely well-written and accessible, avoiding the dry treatment of key topics found in other texts. Students will be interested in reading their text.
The unique perspective of a lawyer and a political scientist. It provides an alternative to current limited judicial process texts that do not combine legal and political science approaches, that overemphasize federal courts, and that present a limited comparative judicial process analysis. Instead, Banks and O'Brien offer a fresh perspective on the contemporary politics of law, courts, the legal profession, and judicial policymaking, often with an underlying comparative judicial process perspective., and judicial policymaking, often with an underlying comparative judicial process perspective.
The most complete organization in the field, ranging from issues from “What is law?” to “How are courts social policymakers but constrained in making law?” It covers four distinct areas through its organization: 1) What is law?; 2) How are courts organized and how do they work procedurally?; 3) What influences court access and, ultimately, judicial decision-making?; and, 4) How do courts make policy; and how is judicial authority to do so limited? It has relevant and contemporary recitations of literature from the political science and legal fields; and analyses from scholars who argue from the quantitative (attitudinal and strategic models) and the qualitative (new institutionalism) perspectives.
Very comprehensive in substantive content, and rich in empirical data and graphs, in covering the nature of law, families of law, and jurisprudence (chapters 1 and 2); state and federal judicial organization (chapter 3); judicial selection, retention, and removal in state and federal courts (chapter 4); legal practice and access to courts (chapters 5 and 6); adversarial justice and criminal and civil procedures, including methods of alternative dispute resolution (chapters 7 and 8); the politics of appellate judicial decision-making and behavior (chapter 9); and the role and impact of courts in society (chapter 10). For example:
Do you engage your students in contemporary controversies over courts?
The text is unsurpassed in providing accessible and succinct illustrations, tables, and many cutting-edge charts and graphs on all aspects of the judicial process, caseloads, and opinion writing.
Each chapter has sidebars that highlight poignant issues relating to the study of the judicial process, law, judicial politics, and social justice. For example, there are sidebars on “Researching the Law and Judicial Decisions,” “Tribal Courts,” “The Poor State of Indigent Defense Systems in the States,” and “The Battle over School Funding in the States.”
Contains up-to-date charts and graphs on the organization of courts and trends in litigation, caseloads, and opinion writing.
Illustrations
Tables
Sidebars
Section I: The Nature of Law
CHAPTER 1. Legal Systems and Sources of Law
Legal Systems
Civil Law, Common Law, Ideological Legal Systems, Religious Legal Systems, Customary and “Mixed” Legal Systems
The Nature and Sources of Law
Public Law, Private Law
CHAPTER 2. The Politics of Law and Jurisprudence
Classical Theories of Jurisprudence
Natural Law, Legal Positivism, Sociological Jurisprudence and Legal Realism
Contemporary Theories of Jurisprudence
Economics in Law and Pragmatism, Feminist Jurisprudence, Critical Legal and Race Perspectives
Controversies Over Courts: How Should Judges Interpret the Constitution?
The Rule of Law and the Judicial Process
In Comparative Perspective: Constitutional Courts in Europe
Section II: Court Organization and Operation
CHAPTER 3. Judicial Organization, Structure, and Administration
The Origins of U.S. Courts
The 1798 Judiciary Act, The Growth of the Federal Judiciary
Contemporary Judicial Federalism: State and Federal Courts
State Judiciaries, The Federal Judiciary
In Comparative Perspective: Courts in South and Southeast Asia
The Politics of Judicial Administration
State Court Administration, The Administration of the Federal Judiciary
The Politics of Judicial Reform in the 21st Century
Controversies over Courts: Should the Public Finance State Judicial Elections?
Chapter 4. Judicial Recruitment, Retention, and Removal
State Judicial Selection
Controversies over Courts: Are State Judicial Campaigns and Elections Too Partisan?
Federal Judicial Selection
The Framers and Judicial Selection, Ideology or Merit?, The Nomination Process, The Confirmation Process
Towards A Representative Bench and a Career Judiciary?
A Representative Bench?, Leaving the Bench
In Comparative Perspective: The Career Judiciary in Japan
Section III: Influences on Judicial Access and Decision-Making
Chapter 5. The Practice of Law
The Rise of the American Legal Profession
Contemporary Legal Education and Bar Admission
The Business of Legal Practice
Private Practice, Government Attorneys, Corporate Legal Practice, Public Interest Lawyers and Legal Academia
Access to Lawyers and Equal Justice
The Right to Counsel in Criminal Cases, Legal Representation in Civil Litigation, Government Subsidized Legal Aid, Pro Se Representation, Pro Bono Legal Services
Chapter 6. Access to Courts
Formal Barriers
Discretionary Barriers
The Law of Standing, Mootness and Ripeness, The Political Question Doctrine
Controversies Over Courts: Is the Federal Judiciary Too Small to Provide Equal Access to Justice?
Organized Interests and Strategic Litigation
Interest Group Politics and Litigation Strategies
In Comparative Perspective: Comparative Constitutional Law and Capital Punishment
Chapter 7. The Adversarial Process and Criminal Procedure
The Adversarial Process
Trials: Truth or Fight Theory?
Prosecutorial Discretion: From Arrest to Trial
Initial Appearance, Preliminary Hearings and Grand Jury Indictments, Formal Arraignment, Plea Bargaining
The Jury’s Role
The Democratic Politics of Citizen-Juries
In Comparative Perspective: Jury Systems Around the World
Controversies Over Courts: What is the Role of Courts in Times of Crisis and Wartime?
The Politics of the Post-Trial Sentencing Process
The Growth of Determinate Structured Sentencing
Chapter 8. Civil Litigation
The Civil Trial Process
The Nature of Civil Litigation, Civil Procedure
Alternative Dispute Resolution
In Comparative Perspective: Transnational Courts - Quasi-Judicial Tribunals Under NAFTA
Section IV: Judicial Policymaking
Chapter 9. Judicial Decision-Making and Behavior
The Appellate Decision-Making Process
Agenda Setting, Oral Argument, Judicial Conferences, Opinion Writing
Controversies Over Courts: Should Unpublished Judicial Opinions Count as Precedents?
Studying Judicial Decision-Making
The Attitudinal Model, New Institutionalism, Strategic Choice Theory, Legal Reasoning and Interpretative Approaches, The Law and Politics of Legal Precedent
Statutory Interpretation
Statutory Construction and Administrative Regulation
Constitutional Interpretation
The Methods of Constitutional Interpretation, The Sources of Constitutional Interpretation
Chapter 10. The Scope and Limits of Judicial Power
Judicial Policy-Making
State Judicial Policymaking: Equality in Educational Financing Cases, Federal Judicial Policymaking: Privacy Rights and Abortion Politics
In Comparative Perspective: The European Court of Justice and The Globalization of Judicial Power
The Impact of Judicial Decisions
The Politics of Gay Rights and Same Sex Marriages: A Case Study
The Limitations of Judicial Power
Internal Constraints, External Restraints
Controversies Over Courts: Do Courts Forge Major Social Change?
ILLUSTRATIONS
3.1. The United States Court System
3.2. State Court Organization
3.3. California’s Unified Court System
3.4. Ohio’s Non-Unified Court System
3.5. Geographical Boundaries of the U.S. Court System
3.6. The Organization of Judicial Administration in the United States
4.1. The Nomination and Confirmation Process for Federal Judges
7.1. The Stages of Trial and the Presentation of Evidence
7.2. The Criminal Trial and Appeal Process
8.1. The Civil Trial and Appeal Process
9.1. The Process of Appellate Decision-Making
9.2. Research Methodologies for Studying Judicial Politics
10.1. Judicial Compliance and Impact
TABLES
1.1. Major Global Legal Systems
1.2. Types of Law
3.1. Landmark Judicial Administration Legislation
3.2. A Comparison of the State and Federal Judiciary
3.3. Type of State Courts
3.4. State Trial Court Docket
3.5. U.S. District Court Caseload and Docket Composition, 1960-2004
3.6. Nature of Civil Actions and Criminal Offenses in U.S. District Court, 2000-2004
3.7. U.S. Courts of Appeals Docket Composition and Source of Appeals, 1988-2004
4.1. Judicial Selection Methods in the States
4.2. Federal Judicial Selection Methods During Modern Presidencies
4.3. Unsuccessful U.S. Supreme Court Nominations
4.4. The Duration of the Confirmation Process in Lower Federal Court Nominations
4.5. Demographic Characteristics of U.S. District Court Appointees
4.6. Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Court of Appeals’ Appointees
4.7. Judicial Salaries of State and Federal Judges
5.1. Demand for Legal Education, 1964-2005
5.2. Legal Profession Occupations, By Gender and Position
5.3. Top “Megafirms” in the United States
5.4. Salient Differences in Legal Representation in Indigent Criminal Cases
7.1. Trial Court Characteristics in Adversary and Inquisitorial Legal Systems
7.2. Constitutional Protections in Criminal Cases
7.3. Criminal Convictions Resulting from Trials and Pleas in State Felony Cases
7.4. Sentencing Typologies and Practices
8.1. Number of Tort and Contract Trials and Median Jury Awards to Plaintiffs
8.2. Alternative Dispute Resolution and Settlement Practices
9.1. Appeals Terminated After Oral Hearing in U.S. Courts of Appeals
9.2. Types of Judicial Opinions
9.3. Appeals Terminated Without Published Opinion in U.S. Courts of Appeals
9.4. Select Categories of Legal or Political Variables Used to Explain or Predict Judicial Decisions
9.5. Voting Alignments in the Rehnquist Court, 1986-2004
9.6. Rehnquist Court Voting Blocs, By Natural Court, 1994-2004
9.7. Interpretative Methods of Statutory Construction
10.1. Constitutional Amendments Overturning Unpopular U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
SIDEBARS
1.1. Inquisitorial and Adversarial Systems
1.2. Researching the Law and Judicial Decisions
3.1. Tribal Courts
3.2. United States Magistrates
4.1. Should Judges Make Direct Appeals to Voters During Judicial Campaigns?
4.2. The Federalist Society’s Role in the Modern Confirmation Process
5.1. The Poor State of Indigent Defense Systems in the States
6.1. The Ashwander Rules of Constitutional Avoidance
6.2. “Public Interest” Lawsuits in the United States and Abroad
7.1. Plea Bargaining Practices in the United States and Continental Europe
7.2. Jury Nullification
8.1. The Politics of Class Actions
9.1. The U.S. Solicitor General
10.1. Judicial Activism and Restraint
10.2. The Battle over School Funding in the States
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