Judicial Decision Making

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Judicial Decision Making

• PSCI 2481

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Determinants of Judicial Decision Making I

• Law (Substantive)
• Law (Procedural)
• Facts
• Personality
• Attitudes
• Policy Goals

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A Forgery CaseWhat Punishment Should Be
Assigned?

• The Convicted Defendant
• 28 Year old Mexican American
• 145 bad check
• Working class Family
• Father died at age 6
• Prior record (Auto theft as juvenile, DWI,
  Burglary)
• 9th Grade Education
• Spotty work record
• Married with baby, drinking problem, large bills

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The Judges Respond

• Time served plus probation 3
• Jail with no Probation 7
• Jail and Probation 65
• Prison 25

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Determinants of Judicial Decision Making II

• Social Background
• Family
• Education
• Experience
• Religion
• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Income

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Walker v. Birmingham

• The Setting
• 1963 Birmingham, Alabama
• Still a segregated community (Schools/Motels/Rest
  aurants, etc.)
• The Key Players
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference
• Rev. Martin Luther King
• Rev. Wyatt Walker,
• Rev. Ralph Abernathy
• Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
• Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
• Birmingham City
• Public Safety Commissioner Bull Conner

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Walker v. Birmingham

• April 3rd - Lola Hendricks Ambrose Hill apply
  for a parade permit.
• April 5th - Rev. Shuttlesworth requests a permit
  on behalf of the ACMHR
• The parade requests are denied.
• April 7th - Palm Sunday demonstrations occur.
  (as do others throughout the week as the photos
  show).

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Walker v. Birmingham

• April 10, 1963 Injunction Hearing (Judge
  William Jenkins)
• TRO is issued ex parte at the request of the city
  of Birmingham ordering that parades may not be
  held on Good Friday (4/12) and Easter Sunday
  (4/14).
• Parades/Marches happen
• Good Friday led by Rev. Martin Luther King and
  Rev. Ralph Abernathy
• Easter Sunday led by Rev. Wyatt Walker and Rev.
  Daniel King
• Arrests all around!

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(Why is this an important incident?)

• Martin Luther King pens his famous Letter from
  the Birmingham Jail during the following week.
  He is responding to his critics who wonder if he,
  the SCLC and the ACMHR have adopted the right
  strategy for winning civil rights for blacks in
  the South.
• (If youve never read this letter, you should do
  so.)

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Walker v. Birmingham

• The Trial - April 22, 1963
• (Judge William Jenkins!!!)
• Legal Issues Raised by Defendants
• Injunction (issued ex parte) was invalid.
• Case should be in Federal Court on 1st Amendment
  grounds.
• Demonstrations were walks not parades.
• Conduct was protected by 1st 14th Amendments.
• City parade ordinance was administered in an
  arbitrary and capacious manner.

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Walker v. Birmingham

• The Trial Court Decision
• (Announced April 26, 1963)
• The demonstrators lost. Ordinance was not
  invalid on its face, was not administered
  ac, and the temporary injunction was a valid
  exercise of the courts authority.
• Penalty 50 5 days in jail

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Walker v. Birmingham

• State Supreme Court
• Cert granted May 15, 1963
• Appeal filed August 22, 1963
• Decision announced December 9, 1965
• (279 Ala. 53 181 So. 2d 493)
• (Justice Coleman was known to have pen
  paralysis aka writers block, esp. when it
  came to civil rights issues.)
• The conviction of the civil rights demonstrators
  was affirmed.

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Walker v. Birmingham

• US Supreme Court
• Cert granted, October 10, 1966
• Oral Arguments, March 13, 1967
• Decision Announced, June 12, 1967
• 388 US 307 (1967)

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Walker v. Birmingham

• The civil rights demonstrators lost again!
• (5-4)
• Majority Minority
• Black Warren
• Stewart Douglas
• Clark Brennan
• Harlan Fortas
• White

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Why?

• (There is a point to this story)

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Chief Justice Earl Warren
• (Appointed 1953/DDE)
• University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall)
• Republican (w/ a Democratic ideology?)
• California Attorney General (1938-1942)
• Freed fathers murderer
• California Governor (1942-1953), VP Nominee
  (1948)
• Supported internment of Japanese during WWII
• IN THE MINORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice Hugo L. Black
• (Appointed 1937/FDR)
• Democrat/Southerner (Alabama)
• University of Alabama Law School
• Judge of the Birmingham Police Court
• Senator from Alabama
• KKK Member/American Legion
• Opposed federal anti-lynching laws
• IN THE MAJORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice William O. Douglas
• (Appointed 1939/FDR)
• Wall Street Lawyer
• Columbia Law School
• Yale Professor
• New Deal Supporter (SEC)
• Law should be an instrument of social change (a
  liberal)
• IN THE MINORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Congratulations!!!

• CU Womens Soccer gains berth in Big 12
  tournament with 1-0 win over Okie State

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice Tom C. Clark
• (Appointed 1949/HHT)
• Democrat/WASP
• University of Texas Law School
• US Attorney General
• Enlarged Civil Rights Division but supported
  Japanese-American relocation during WWII.
  Criticized by NAACP.
• (Anyone remember what Truman said about him?)
• IN THE MAJORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice John M. Harlan II
• (appointed 1952)
• Republican/WASP
• Economic Conservative
• New York University
• Midwesterner
• Grandson of Justice John Harlan
• IN THE MAJORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice William J. Brennan, jr.
• (appointed 1956/DDE)
• Democrat/Catholic
• Harvard Law School
• Labor Law expert (on management side!)
• NJ Supreme Court (appted by Republican Governor)
• One of Eisenhowers 2 mistakes
• IN THE MINORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice Potter Stewart
• (appointed 1959/DDE)
• Midwesterner
• Yale Law School
• Neither liberal nor conservative
• Satisfactory to Democrats in Eisenhower lame
  duck period
• Belief in narrow opinions
• IN THE MAJORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice Byron Whizzer White
• (appointed 1962/JFK)
• Former CU and professional football player
• Yale Law School
• Deputy US Attorney General
• Prosecuted Freedom Rider case in Alabama (to
  protect civil rights demonstrators he used ex
  parte injunctions to stop state actions).
• IN THE MAJORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Judicial Backgrounds

• Justice Abe Fortas
• (appointed 1964/LBJ)
• Democrat/Jewish
• Yale Law School
• Former student of
• William O. Douglas
• Wall St. Attorney
• Close advisor to LBJ
• IN THE MINORITY in Walker v. Birmingham

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Walker v. Birmingham

• To Repeat
• Majority Minority
• Black Warren (D)
• Stewart (CO) Douglas (D)
• Clark Brennan (D)
• Harlan Fortas
• White

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Social Backgrounds affect other areas of law.
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Determinants of Judicial Decision Making III

• Interpersonal Factors
• Persuasion
• Friendship
• Leadership

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Warren Burger Harry Blackmun
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Determinants of Judicial Decision Making IV

• Institutional Defense
• e.g., The Watergate Tapes Case
• Pressure from Other Actors
• e.g., President Congress

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Determinants of Judicial Decision Making V

• Public Opinion
• Reactions to Public Preferences
• Public Preferences influence the Checks
  Balances among the 3 branches of government
• A Stitch in Time that Saved Nine

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FDR his 1937 attempt to pack the Court