| ID | 131494 |
| Title Proper | Judicial selection and death penalty decisions |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Canes-Wrone, Brandice ; Clark, Tom S ; Kelly, Jason P |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Most U.S. state supreme court justices face elections or reappointment by elected officials, and research suggests that judicial campaigns have come to resemble those for other offices. We develop predictions on how selection systems should affect judicial decisions and test these predictions on an extensive dataset of death penalty decisions by state courts of last resort. Specifically, the data include over 12,000 decisions on over 2000 capital punishment cases decided between 1980 and 2006 in systems with partisan, nonpartisan, or retention elections or with reappointment. As predicted, the findings suggest that judges face the greatest pressure to uphold capital sentences in systems with nonpartisan ballots. Also as predicted, judges respond similarly to public opinion in systems with partisan elections or reappointment. Finally, the results indicate that the plebiscitary influences on judicial behavior emerge only after interest groups began achieving success at targeting justices for their decisions. |
| `In' analytical Note | American Political Science Review Vol. 108, No.1; Feb 2014: p.23-39 |
| Journal Source | American Political Science Review Vol. 108, No.1; Feb 2014: p.23-39 |
| Key Words | United States ; Judicial Selection ; Death Penalty Decisions ; Supreme Court ; Death Penalty |