Overview

"The U.S. Supreme Court is a public policy battleground in which organized interests attempt to etch their economic, legal, and political preferences into law through the filing of amicus curiae (""friend of the court"") briefs. In Friends of the Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making, Paul M. Collins, Jr. explores how organized interests influence the justices' decision making, including how the justices vote and whether they choose to author concurrences and dissents. Collins presents theories of judicial choice derived from disciplines as diverse as law, marketing, political science, and social psychology. This theoretically rich and empirically rigorous treatment of decision-making on the nation's highest court, which represents the most comprehensive examination ever undertaken of the influence of U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs, provides clear evidence that interest groups play a significant role in shaping the justices' choices."

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9780195372144

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Reviews

We have a well-documented and thorough examination of amicus participation and the influence of these briefs on the justices and their votes. The data are excellent and the work thorough. For scholars interested in an eclectic approach to the study of the decision making of the justices, it is a book worth reading. Rorie Solberg, The Journal of Politics

Professor Paul Collins provides a scholarly read that addresses a topic of consuming academic and legal interests: agenda setting on the Supreme Court. He meticulously analyzes all aspects of amici participation not only in depth, but also longitudinally - from the beginning of the Vinson Court in 1946 to the end of the 2001 term. None have investigated the subject as comprehensively and as thoroughly as Professor Collins, and I fully expect it to become the definitive work on amicus curiae participation and influence. <br> Harold Spaeth, Michigan State University<br>

Author Information

Paul M. Collins, Jr. is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas. In 2006, he was awarded the Council of Graduate Schools/University Microfilms International Award for the Most Distinguished Dissertation in the Social Sciences defended between July 2004 and June 2006. His research focuses primarily on appellate court decision making, with a special interest in psychological theories of judicial choice. Collins's scholarship has been published in a wide array of the leading journals in political science and law.

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