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The Supreme Court and American Society

The Supreme Court and American Society

Many commentators focus upon what might be called the "popular" aspects of the Court: the clash of personalities throughout Court history, the different styles of various justices, and the interaction between presidents and their Court appointees. These are "popular" aspects in the sense that they are what popular journalists focus upon. They revolve around personalities, rather than ideas, and they have little to do with the intellectual processes of the Court. They are the substance of personal stories and are what interest most people.

Much is said about the political process aspects of the Court, such as the way in which the Court conducts its daily business: its meeting schedules, the makeup of its staff, the selection of each justice's support staff. Statistics are available as to how often individual justices have followed the advice of their clerks and what influence these clerks have had on the decisions of the Court. This is of great interest to those who study political and administrative process, but ultimately has little bearing upon the decisions and opinions of the Court.

The preceding paragraphs may come across as unnecessarily harsh criticism of the focus of many observers of the Court, and maybe it is. There is value in studying the administrative processes of political institutions, for they often have a tremendous influence on the decision making processes of those institutions. However, they are less an influence on the decision making processes of the Court. Legal decision making at the appellate court level is less an administrative process than an intellectual one. Appellate court decisions must be based upon legal doctrines and precedents. They cannot be constructed out of whole cloth, despite what legal critics will say of certain decisions. An appellate judge who votes for a certain result must support his or her decision with intellectual argumen...

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The Supreme Court and American Society. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:26, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682286.html