Race to Judgment - An Empirical Study of Scott v. Harris and Summary Judgment
Race to Judgment - An Empirical Study of Scott v. Harris and Summary Judgment
复制标题
判决竞赛——斯科特诉哈里斯案和简易判决的实证研究
DOI：
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发表时间：
2010
影响因子：
0.9
通讯作者：
Amelia G. Yowell
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Amelia G. Yowell
In three of the most cited cases in its history, the Supreme Court strongly encouraged the use of summary judgment as an efficient way to rid the federal dockets of frivolous claims before expensive trials. After this trilogy of decisions, scholars expressed concern about the heavy use of summary judgment. Two decades later, most of the judicial and scholarly world seemed content again with the state of summary judgment. Then came Scott v. Harris. With a video link included underneath the Supreme Court’s decision, it is hard to imagine a more modern test of the relationship between judges, evidence, and summary judgment. In interpreting Scott, scholars have disagreed about the scope of the decision. Does it signal another large increase in the granting of all summary judgment motions? Or is its impact limited to cases that are factually similar? This Note seeks to answer these questions through an empirical study. The study analyzes how district courts - the initial decision makers confronted with summary judgment motions - have used Scott. The rates of district court decisions on 56(c) motions for summary judgment provide a useful first look at Scott’s impact.The results of this study suggest three conclusions. First, Scott has had little to no substantive impact on summary judgment rates overall. Second, there has been a significant decrease in denial rates in those cases that cite to Scott, suggesting that Scott does have an impact within a limited scope. Third, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of cases dealing with videotape evidence after Scott.
