"This book has important things to say about the nature of the judicial process and how we understand the
role of law in our legal system. It is one of the more important books on law and courts that has been written
in recent years and should qualify as a must-read for all scholars in the law and courts community."
--Journal of Politics
"Klein's book is one of the best systematic examinations of behavior on the U.S. Courts of Appeals to be produced
and it is bound to make a substantial impact on the discipline."
--The Law and Politics Book Review
"'Outstanding' and 'path breaking' are overused words; nonetheless they accurately describe this book. As
a blend of legal and behavioral scholarship it has no peer, a blend produced by the creation of an innovative set
of rigorous measures that are certain to be adapted and employed in subsequent work."
--Harold J. Spaeth, Michigan State University
Publisher Web Site, March, 2004
Summary
This book asks how federal court judges decide cases when faced with unsettled issues of law. Specifically,
how much and why are their decisions influenced by higher court judges or other judges at the same level as themselves?
To answer these questions, the author relies on statistical analyses of decisions and interviews with court of
appeals judges. The key findings are that judges give serious attention to the work of colleagues of equal authority,
but demonstrate substantial independence from the Supreme Court.
Table of Contents
1. Lawmaking in a hierarchical judicial system
2. Theory and hypotheses
3. The cases
4. Influences on circuit judges' responses: case evidence
5. Influences on circuit judges' responses: interview evidence
