Collaborative Research on the Formation of Opinion Coalitions on the U.S. Supreme Court

9320284爱泼斯坦这个合作项目调查美国最高法院的联盟是如何形成的。一个特别的重点是撰写意见的过程，通常包括许多草稿和各种立场的转变，因为法院成员之间正在辩论可能对案件作出裁决的理论。这项拟议的研究具有科学意义，原因有两个。首先，通过强调最高法院通过其意见阐明的政策和原则，而不是简单地计算胜负一方的选票，该项目重新聚焦于对美国法律制度的科学研究。其次，该项目通过研究由非民选官员组成的机构，而不是立法机构和政党，扩大了联盟分析的领域。为了测试意见联盟模式，该项目需要从两个来源收集数据：美国最高法院的官方记录和从首席大法官莫里森·R·韦特到助理大法官瑟古德·马歇尔的五名大法官的文件。从这些来源收集的具体信息包括：有争议的政策、大法官的暂定和最终投票、意见联盟的规模和组成、意见草案的数量以及对是非曲直和最终意见进行投票的间隔时间。***

9320284 EPSTEIN This collaborative project investigates how coalitions are formed on the U.S. Supreme Court. A particular focus is the process by which opinions are written, often including many drafts and various shifts in position as the doctrines that could decide a case are debated among the members of the Court. The proposed research has scientific significance for two reasons. First, by emphasizing the policies and doctrine enunciated by the Court through its opinions, rather than simply counting votes on winning and losing sides, the project refocuses the scientific study of the American legal system. Second, the project expands the field of coalition analysis by examining an institution composed of non-elected officials instead of legislatures and political parties. To test the model of opinion coalition, the project calls for the collection of data from two sources: the official records of the Supreme Court of the United States and the collected papers of five justices, spanning from Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite to Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall. Specific information culled from these sources includes: the policies at issue, the tentative and final votes of the justices, the size and composition of opinion coalitions, the number of opinion drafts, and the length of time between votes on the merits and final opinions. ***