Capacity of Courts as Policy-Making Forums (From Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justice, Second Edition, P 240-256, 2000, Barry W. Hancock and Paul M. Sharp, eds. -- See NCJ-183970)

• NCJ Number: 183963
• Author(s): Christopher E. Smith
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice-Hall, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Collected Work
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The issues of court legitimacy and capacity for policy-making are related and both need to exist for effective judicial policy-making.

Abstract

Social science research on judicial decision-making has shown that judicial decisions are shaped by the same kinds of personal and political influences that affect decisions in other branches of government. Nonetheless, decision-making processes in the judicial branch are structured differently than parallel processes in other government institutions. The judicial process involves different actors and different kinds of information, and decision-makers in the judiciary possess role concepts and authorities that differ from those of elected officials. Arguments endorsing and opposing courts as policy-making forums are presented, and the capacity of courts to function as policy-making forums is assessed in terms of access to information, the policy process, and the consequences of judicial decisions. The implementation of judicial decisions is also discussed in the policy-making context. 45 notes