The Role of Precedent and Case Salience on Judicial Decision-Making: Is Justice Anthony Kennedy a Moderate or a Staunch Conservative on the U.S. Supreme Court

Authors

Paul Foote

Volume Number

40

Issue Number

1

Abstract

The paper explores the characteristics of moderate judicial behavior and seeks to determine the conditions under which moderate decision-making occurs on the Supreme Court. The data in the study was derived from the Justice-Centered Court Database (1986-2010). On the Rehquist Court, I find that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the only justice that consistently demonstrated moderatebehavior during her tenure. Since O'Connor's retirement in 2005, legal commentators have claimed that Justice Anthony Kennedy is now the key moderate justice on the Court. I scrutinize Kennedy's voting record to ascertain whether it has indeed moderated during O'Connor's absence. Contrary to media reports and law related articles, the study found that Kennedy has become more staunchly conservative in highly salient cases.

Recommended Citation

Foote, Paul (2012) "The Role of Precedent and Case Salience on Judicial Decision-Making: Is Justice Anthony Kennedy a Moderate or a Staunch Conservative on the U.S. Supreme Court," Journal of Political Science: Vol. 40: No. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol40/iss1/1