NCJ Number
113317
Journal
The Justice System Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (Winter 1987) Pages: 384-405
Date Published
1987
Length
21 pages
Annotation
What prompts a State supreme court to grant or deny a request for appeal? This article addresses this topic by applying three contending theories of case selection to data from Georgia and Illinois Supreme Courts.
Abstract
Cue theory was the least useful in explaining case dissemination in lower court and the government as litigant. Similarly, no direct relationship was found between votes on case selection and votes on the merits in Georgia, which demonstrates that case selection decisions are not merely covert decisions on the merits. The most significant finding was that judicial role, justices' attitudes toward appellate review; was the most important concept to be associated with one selection. Further work needs to explore the relationship among the error-correction/policy-making functions of appellate courts, the judicial philosophy of activism-restraint, and case selection. (Publisher abstract)