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Supreme Court Justices' Loyalty to the President

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  • Lee Epstein
  • Eric A. Posner

Abstract

A statistical analysis of voting by Supreme Court justices from 1937 to 2014 provides evidence of a loyalty effect--justices more frequently vote for the government when the president who appointed them is in office than when subsequent presidents lead the government. This effect exists even when subsequent presidents are of the same party as the justices in question. However, the loyalty effect is much stronger for Democratic justices than for Republican justices. This may be because Republican presidents are more ideologically committed than Democratic justices are, leaving less room for demonstrations of loyalty.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee Epstein & Eric A. Posner, 2016. "Supreme Court Justices' Loyalty to the President," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 401-436.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:doi:10.1086/688395
    DOI: 10.1086/688395
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Caldeira, Gregory A & Wright, John R & Zorn, Christopher J W, 1999. "Sophisticated Voting and Gate-Keeping in the Supreme Court," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 549-572, October.
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    5. Michael A. Bailey & Brian Kamoie & Forrest Maltzman, 2005. "Signals from the Tenth Justice: The Political Role of the Solicitor General in Supreme Court Decision Making," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 72-85, January.
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    1. Garoupa, Nuno & Gili, Marian & Gómez Pomar, Fernando, 2021. "Loyalty to the party or loyalty to the party leader: Evidence from the Spanish Constitutional Court," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

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