Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: We revisit and re-test one of the early classics of judicial citation analysis, Caldeira�s (1985) article �The Transmission of Legal Precedent: A Study of State Supreme Courts.� After briefly reviewing the use of citation analysis by legal scholars, we focus directly on Caldeira�s work, describing his variables and models, and reinterpreting them where necessary or justifiable in light of differences between our dataset and his. We then compare the performance of his original models with our re-interpretations, and then offer a parsimonious alternative that we believe performs as good or better. We find that whereas Caldeira�s original models included between six and fifteen explanatory variables, we were able to achieve comparable results with just two measures. We close by discussing the implications of these results and a brief overview of directions for further research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Most studies of �racial profiling� in traffic law enforcement find that African American drivers are stopped and ticketed at rates dramatically higher than white drivers, yet virtually all such studies have been criticized for failing to control adequately for factors other than race, among them driving habits. The proposed paper is drawn from a study designed to sort out the relative influence of various factors -- particularly race, social status, and a broad range of controls -- on police traffic stops and tickets. We will summarize our previous research on the factors that influence racial patterns in traffic stops, and will focus our analysis in the paper on the factors that influence racial patterns in the issuance of citations and searches of persons and vehicles. The study is based on a "victimization"-style survey of drivers in the Kansas City metro area, and was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Law & Social Sciences Section).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Stare decisis is the hallmark of the Anglo-American common-law system. The mechanism of precedent fits within the characterization of the judicial system as a principal-agent system in which the Supreme Court communicate legal rules as the principal and courts of appeals apply such law as dutiful agents. However, lost in the top-down emphasis of how much appellate court judges (the agents) adhere to the decisions of the Supreme Court (the principal) is any consideration of the impact the agents may have on the principal. This paper seeks to add to the existing literature outlining the principal-agent model of the judiciary by focusing less on how much the agents adhere to the wishes of the principal and concentrating more on the signals sent from the appellate level to the Supreme Court. It does so by positing that circuit judges can serve as �judicial entrepreneurs� even in their capacity as agents. Such appellate judges try to use their legal capital, namely their judicial opinions, to influence the Supreme Court. We test our hypothesis by considering patterns of Supreme Court reliance on and citation of lower court judges.

Publication Type: GIFTS
Abstract: This exercise gives students guidelines to check the credibility of internet or other supporting evidence and gives them an opportunity to present their findings. It is done in a "row call" fashion. Students share a space in front of the room with four of their classmates and properly cite and share their researched article.The atmosphere is non-threatening and a series of these exercises builds confidence in the use of supporting material.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: First, how common is the citation of non-Canadian authority generally, and of each of three sub-sets (English, American and “other”)? Does it increase or decrease over time,? Which judges use them (and which do not)? _x000d__x000d_Second, what types of cases use non-Canadian authority? Are the ideas impacting public law, or criminal law, or private law, or Charter law? Can we identify legal matters where foreign citation is particularly common (for example, American sources for insurance cases)?_x000d__x000d_Third, what do non-Canadian citations look like? Do they focus on particular countries or courts or judges? On national high courts? On recent cases, and if so, how recent?_x000d__x000d_Fourth, what does the citation of foreign authority look like? Is it discussed at some detail, or relegated to American-style “string citations”? I will examine this by focusing on a dozen or so cases that use the largest number of non-Canadian cases._x000d__x000d_I intend this paper to be an exploration of the idea of judicial globalization, zeroing in on the extent to which the increased interaction between judges and increased accessibility of current decisions make a difference, such that a specific case is clearly handled differently because of these foreign ideas.

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