The Supreme Court in the American Legal System

This book comprehensively examines the United States legal system.

Jeffrey A. Segal (Author), Harold J. Spaeth (Author), Sara C. Benesh (Author)

9780521785082, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 July 2005

424 pages, 28 b/w illus. 57 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.4 cm, 0.59 kg

"At its core (it) is a forceful argument targeted at academic specialists and backed by sophisticated empirical analysis...the book is a rousing success...One could hardly as for a more engaging, provocative, and challenging book on judicial behavior for a general audience."
David Klein, University of Virginia, Law and Politics Book Review

This book examines the American legal system, including a comprehensive treatment of the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite this treatment, the 'in' from the title deserves emphasis, for it extensively examines lower courts, providing separate chapters on state courts, the US District Courts, and the US Courts of Appeals. The book analyzes these courts from a legal/extralegal framework, drawing different conclusions about the relative influence of each based on institutional structures and empirical evidence. The book is also tied together through its attention to the relationship between lower courts and the Supreme Court. Additionally, Election 2000 litigation provides a common substantive topic linking many of the chapters. Finally, it provides extended coverage to the legal process, with separate chapters on civil procedure, evidence, and criminal procedure.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Preface
Part I. Introduction: 1. Judicial policy making
2. Approaches to judicial decision making
3. The Supreme Court in American legal history
Part II. Judicial Process: 4. Civil procedure
5. Evidence
6. Criminal procedure
Part III. Lower Courts in the American Legal System: 7. State courts
8. The U.S. district courts
9. The U.S. courts of appeals
Part IV. The Supreme Court: 10. Staffing the court
11. Getting into court
12. Supreme Court decision making
13. Opinions and assignments
Part V. Impact: 14. The impact of judicial decisions
Case index.
General index.

Subject Areas: Law [L], Politics & government [JP], Regional studies [GTB]