Kirk A. Randazzo is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina and author of Defenders of Liberty or Champions of Security? Federal Courts, the Hierarchy of Justice, and U.S. Foreign Policy, also published by SUNY Press. Richard W. Waterman is Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky and the author of several books, including The Changing American Presidency: New Perspectives on Presidential Power.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

Anecdotal Evidence of Statutory Influence on Judges
Systematic Statutory Influences on Judicial Behavior
Measuring Legal Factors
Organization of the Book

2. Theoretical Foundations

Approaches to Interpretation and the Canons of Statutory Construction
Separation of Powers Models
Influence of Law and Ideology on Judicial Behavior
Placing Judicial Decision Making into a Broader Theoretical Context
The Model of Contingent Discretion
Operationalization of Statutory Discretion
Conclusions

3. U.S. Courts of Appeals

Historical Development of the Federal Appellate Courts
Anecdotal Evidence from Appeals Court Judges
Empirical Analysis of Statutory Influence
Circuit-Specific Analyses of Statutory Influence
An Alternative Specification
Conclusions

4. The U.S. Supreme Court

Historical Development of the Supreme Court
Anecdotal Evidence from Supreme Court Justices
Empirical Evidence Analysis of Statutory Influence
Justice-Specific Analyses of Statutory Influence
An Alternative Specification
Examination of Statutes Under Judicial Review
Corollary Analysis of Statutes and Unanimous Decisions
Conclusions

5. State Supreme Courts

Influence of Law and Ideology on State Supreme Courts
Anecdotal Evidence from State Court Judges
Empirical Analysis of Statutory Influence
Corollary Analysis of Statutes and Judicial Elections/Appointments
Conclusions

6. Temporal Analysis of Supreme Court Behavior

The Temporal Nature of the Law
Evolution of Congressional Statutory Language
Empirical Analysis of Statutory Influence versus Judicial Annotations
Corollary Analysis of Statutes and Unanimous Decisions
Conclusions

7. Toward a New Paradigm

Summary of Empirical Evidence
Theoretical and Substantive Implications
Important Caveats
Remaining Questions

Appendix
Notes
References
Index