In:
American Politics Research, SAGE Publications, Vol. 30, No. 2 ( 2002-03), p. 166-192
Abstract:
A common refrain among Supreme Court watchers is that today it is law clerks who are primarily responsible for drafting the justices’opinions. We search for traces of clerical drafting—identifiable stylistic “fingerprints”—in the first drafts of the opinions that two justices, Lewis F. Powell Jr., and Thurgood Marshall, circulated during the 1985 term of the Court. These two justices relied on their clerks to a different degree: Powell’s office procedures called for him and several clerks to participate in writing each opinion, whereas Marshall reputedly delegated most writing responsibilities to his clerks. We do detect the clerks’ distinct styles in the justices’ opinions, though; as expected, the fingerprints are clearer for Marshall’s clerks than for Powell’s. We also find differences across opinion type, with the clerks’unique style most easily discernible in separate opinions, as opposed to majority opinions.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1532-673X
,
1552-3373
DOI:
10.1177/1532673X02030002003
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2002
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2095947-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2016689-8
SSG:
7,26
SSG:
3,6
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