Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:02:33.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Building an Integrated Model of Trial Court Decision Making: Predicting Plaintiff Success and Awards across Circuits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Tao L. Dumas  and
Stacia L. Haynie
Tao L. Dumas*
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Stacia L. Haynie
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
*
Tao L. Dumas, Louisiana State University, 240 Stubbs Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA Email: tdumas2@lsu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study creates and empirically tests an integrated model of trial court decision making to explore the hypothesis that jury verdicts reflect the social, political, and economic attributes of the community in which the court resides. In addition, the analyses examine the influence of attorneys, litigants, case facts, and judges on trial outcomes. Using an original data set comprising all reported civil trial verdicts decided in the state of Alabama from 2002 to 2008, we uncover strong evidence that community composition influences both the dispute resolution and resource allocation functions of trial courts. This research improves our knowledge of trial court decision making and contributes to our theoretical understanding of the effect of extralegal factors on the performance of political institutions.

Keywords

judicial behaviorjudicial electionsjudicial politicslocal politicspublic law
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 103 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, Alan I., Lanoue, David J., and Ramesh, Subha. 1988. “Economic Conditions, Causal Attributes, and Political Evaluations in the 1984 Presidential Election.” Journal of Politics 50:848–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Association for Justice. 2005. “Who's Behind the Stella Awards and Other Myths.” http://www.justice.org/pressroom/facts/frivolous/ (Accessed November 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Ardoin, Phillip J., and Garand, James C.. 2003. “Measuring Constituency Ideology in U.S. House Districts: A Top-Down Simulation Approach.” Journal of Politics 65:1165–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benokraitis, Nijole, and Griffin-Keene, Joyce A.. 1982. “Prejudice and Jury Selection.” Journal of Black Studies 12:427–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bornstein, Brian H. 1998. “From Compassion to Compensation: The Effect of Injury Severity on Mock Jurors' Liability Judgments.” Journal of Applied Psychology 28:1477–502.Google Scholar
Bornstein, Brian H., and Rajki, Michelle. 1994. “Extra-Legal Factors and Product Liability: The Influence of Mock Jurors' Demographic Characteristics and Intuitions about the Cause of an Injury.” Behavioral Science & the Law 12:127–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bovbjerg, Ronald R., Sloan, Frank A., Avi, Dor, and Hsieh, Chee Ruey. 1991. “Juries and Justice: Are Malpractice & Other Personal Injuries Created Equal?” Law & Contemporary Problems 54:5–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brace, Paul, Langer, Laura, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2000. “Measuring the Preferences of State Court Judges.” Journal of Politics 62:387–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1993. “Integrated Models of Judicial Dissent.” Journal of Politics 55:914–35.Google Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 1995. “Studying Courts Comparatively: The View from the American States.” Political Research Quarterly 48:5–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brace, Paul, and Hall, Melinda Gann. 2001. “‘Haves’ versus, ‘Have Nots’ in State Supreme Courts: Allocating Docket Space and Wins in Power Asymmetric Cases.” Law & Society Review 35:393–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, A. Colin, and Trivedi, Pravir K.. 2005. Microeconomics Methods and Application. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chin, Audrey, and Peterson, Mark A.. 1985. Deep Pockets, Empty Pockets: Who Wins in Cook County Jury Trials? Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.Google Scholar
Denove, Chris F., and Imwinkelried, Edward J.. 1995. “Jury Selection: An Empirical Investigation of Demographic Bias.” American Journal of Trial Advocacy 19:285–341.Google Scholar
Diamond, Shari Seidman, Saks, Michael J., and Landsman, Stephan. 1998. “Juror Judgments about Liability and Damages: Sources of Variability and Ways to Increase Consistency.” DePaul Law Review 48:301–22.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, Theodore, Goerdt, John, Ostrom, Brain, Rottman, David, and Wells, Martin T.. 1997. “Predictability of Punitive Damages.” Journal of Legal Studies 26:624–61.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, Theodore, and Wells, Martin. 2002. “Trial Outcomes and Demographics: Is There a Bronx Effect?” Texas Law Review 80:1839–1862.Google Scholar
Farole, Donald J. Jr. 1999. “Reexamining Litigant Success in State Supreme Courts.” Law & Society Review 33:1043–58.Google Scholar
Feldman, Stanley. 1982. “Economic Self-Interest and Political Behavior.” American Journal of Political Science 26:446–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galanter, Marc. 1974. “Why the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change.” Law & Society Review 9:95–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldman, Lawrence. 2008. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay: The Federalist Papers. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goodman, Jane, Loftus, Elizabeth F., and Greene, Edith. 1990. “Matter of Money: Voir Dire in Civil Cases.” Forensic Reports 3:303–30.Google Scholar
Green, W. H. 1981. “Sample Selection as a Specification Error: Comment.” Econometrica 49:795–8.Google Scholar
Greene, Edie, and Bornstein, Brain. 2003. Determining Damages: The Psychology of Jury Awards. Washington: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haire, Susan Brodie, Lindquist, Stefanie A., and Hartley, Roger. 1999. “Attorney Expertise, Litigant Success, and Judicial Decision-Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.” Law & Society Review 33:667–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hans, Valerie P. 2000. Business on Trial. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hans, Valerie P. 2008. “Faking It? Citizen Perceptions of Whiplash Injuries.” In Civil Juries and Civil Justice: Psychological & Legal Perspectives, eds. Bornstein, Brian H., Weiner, Richard L., Schopp, Robert, and Willborn, Steven L.. New York: Springer. 131-150.Google Scholar
Hans, Valerie P., and David Ermann, M.. 1989. “Responses to Corporate Versus Individual Wrongdoing.” Law and Human Behavior 13:151–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hastie, Reid, Schkade, David A., and Payne, John W.. 1998. “A Case Study of Juror and Jury Judgments in Civil Cases: Deciding Liability for Punitive Damages.” Law and Human Behavior 22:287–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynie, Stacia L., and Sill, Kaitlyn. 2007. “Experienced Advocates and Litigation Outcomes: Repeat Players in the South African Supreme Court of Appeal.” Political Research Quarterly 60:443–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynie, Stacia L. 1995. “Resource Inequalities and Regional Variation in Litigation Outcomes in the Philippine Supreme Court, 1961–1986.” Political Research Quarterly 48:371–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynie, Stacia L. 1994. “Resource Inequalities and Litigation Outcomes in the Philippine Supreme Court.” Journal of Politics 56:752–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helland, Eric, and Tabarrock, Alexander. 2002. “The Effect of Electoral Institutions on Tort Awards.” American Law and Economics Review 4:341–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helland, Eric, and Tabarrock, Alexander. 2003. “Race, Poverty, and American Tort Awards: Evidence from Three Data Sets.” Journal of Legal Studies 32:27–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heydebrand, Wolf V. 1976. “The Context of Public Bureaucracies: An Organizational Analysis of Federal District Courts.” Law & Society Review 11:759–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Timothy R., Wahlbeck, Paul J., and Spriggs, James F.. 2006. “The Influence of Oral Arguments on the U.S Supreme Court.” American Political Science Review 100:99–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, Sherman. 2007. “A Message from ATRA President, Sherman Joyce.” http://www.atra.org/about/ (Accessed November 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Kassin, Saul M., and Wrightsman, Lawrence S.. 1988. American Jury on Trial. New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Key, V. O. 1966. The Responsible Electorate. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Kinsey, Karl A., and Stalans, Loretta J.. 1999. “Which ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead and Why? Cultural Capital and Legal Mobilization it Frontline Law Enforcement.” Law & Society Review 33:993–1023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koetzle, William. 1998. “The Impact of Diversity Upon the Competitiveness of U.S. House Elections, 1962–96.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 23:561–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramer, Gerald H. 1971. “Short-Term Fluctuations in U.S. Voting Behavior 1896–1964.” American Political Science Review 65:131–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kritzer, Herbert M., and Sibley, Susan, eds. 2003. In Litigation: Do the ‘Haves’ Still Come Out Ahead? Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Lau, Richard, and Sears, David O.. 1981. “Cognitive Links Between Economic Grievances and Political Response.” Political Behavior 3:279–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levendusky, Matthew S., Pope, Jeremy C., and Jackman, Simon D.. 2008. “Measuring District-Level Partisanship with Implications for Analysis of U.S. Elections.” Journal of Politics 70:736–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacCoun, Robert J. 1996. “Differential Treatment of Corporate Defendants by Juries: An Examination of the ‘Deep-Pockets’ Hypothesis.” Law & Society Review 30:121–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGuire, Kevin T. 1995. “Repeat Players in the Supreme Court: The Role of Experienced Lawyers in Litigation Success.” Journal of Politics 57:187–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGuire, Kevin T. 1998. “Explaining Executive Success in the U.S. Supreme Court.” Political Research Quarterly 51:187–96.Google Scholar
Melenberg, Bertrand, and Soest, Arthur Van. 1996. “Parametric and Semi-Parametric Modelling of Vacation Expenditures.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 2:59–76.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Denise, ed. 2003–2009. The Alabama Jury Verdict Reporter. 2002–2008 Editions. Louisville, KY: Alabama Jury Verdict Reporter.Google Scholar
Nadeau, Richard, and Lewis-Beck, Michael S.. 2001. “National Economic Voting in U.S. Presidential Elections.” Journal of Politics 63:159–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nawata, Kazumitsu. 1993. “A Note on the Estimation of Models with Sample Selection Biases.” Economics Letters 42:15–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nawata, Kazumitsu, and Nagase, Nobuko. 1996. “Estimation of Sample Selection Bias Models.” Econometric Reviews 15:387–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overland, Sean G. 2009. The Juror Factor Race and Gender in America's Civil Courts. El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly.Google Scholar
Priest, George, and Klein, Benjamin. 1984. “The Selection of Disputes For Litigation.” Journal of Legal Studies 13:1–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Puhani, Patrick A. 2000. “The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique.” Journal of Economic Surveys 14:53–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramirez, Deborah A. 1993. “Excluded Voices: The Disenfranchisement of Ethnic Groups from Jury Service.” Wisconsin Law Review 1993:761–809.Google Scholar
Rohde, David, and Spaeth, Harold. 1976. Supreme Court Decision Making. San Francisco, CA: H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Rudolph, Thomas J. 2003. “Who's Responsible for the Economy? The Formation and Consequences of Responsibility Attributions.” American Journal of Politics 47:698–713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudolph, Thomas J., and Tobin Grant, J.. 2002. “An Attributional Model of Economic Voting: Evidence from the 2000 Presidential Election.” Political Research Quarterly 55:805–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saks, Michael J. 2002. “Trial Outcomes and Demographics: Easy Assumptions Versus Hard Evidence.” Texas Law Review 80:1877–87.Google Scholar
Schubert, Glendon. 1965. The Judicial Mind: Attitudes and Ideologies of Supreme Court Justices. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Schubert, Glendon. 1974. The Judicial Mind Revisited. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., Epstein, Lee, Cameron, Charles M., and Spaeth, Harold J.. 1995. “Ideological Values and the Votes of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Revisited.” Journal of Politics 54:812–23.Google Scholar
Segal, Jeffrey A., and Spaeth, Harold D.. 2002. The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Marin. 1981. Courts: A Comparative and Political Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Songer, Donald R., Kuersten, Ashlyn, and Kaheny, Eric. 2000 “Why the Haves Don't Always Come Out Ahead: Repeat Players Meet Amici Curiae for the Disadvantaged.” Political Research Quarterly. 53:537–56.Google Scholar
Songer, Donald R., and Sheehan, Reginald S.. 1992. “Who Wins on Appeal? Upperdogs and Underdogs in the United States Courts of Appeals.” American Journal of Political Science 36:235–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Songer, Donald R., Sheehan, Reginald S., and Haire, Susan Brodie. 1999. “Do the ‘Haves’ Come out Ahead over Time? Applying Galanter's Framework to Decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1925–1988.” Law & Society Review 33:811–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storing, Herbert J. 1981. The Complete Anti-Federalist. Chicago: Chicago University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tabarrock, Alexander, and Helland, Eric. 1999. “Court Politics: The Political Economy of Tort Awards.” Journal of Law & Economics 42:157–18.Google Scholar
Vidmar, Neil. 1993. “Empirical Evidence of the Deep Pockets Hypothesis: Jury Awards for Pain and Suffering in Medical Malpractice Cases.” Duke Law Journal 43:217–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vidmar, Neil. 1995. Medical Malpractice and the American Jury: Confronting Myths about Jury Incompetence, Deep Pockets, and Outrageous Damage Awards. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vidmar, Neil, and Rice, Jeffery J.. 1993. “Assessments of Noneconomic Damage Awards in Medical Malpractice: A Comparison of Jurors and Legal Professionals.” Iowa Law Journal 78:883–911.Google Scholar
Visher, Christy A. 1987. “Juror Decision Making: The Importance of the Evidence.” Law and Human Behavior 11:1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldfogel, Joel. 1995. “The Selection Hypothesis and the Relationship between Trial and Plaintiff Victory.” Journal of Political Economy 103:229–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, Stanton, Cartwright, Bliss, Kagan, Robert A., and Friedman, Lawrence M.. 1987. “Do the ‘Haves’ Come out Ahead? Winning and Losing in the State Supreme Courts, 1870–1970.” Law & Society Review 21:403–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winship, Christopher, and Mare, Robert D.. 1992. “Models for Sample Selection Bias.” Annual Review of Sociology 18:327–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar