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EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE SUPREME COURT'S CASELOAD FROM 1880-1976

NCJ Number
69117
Journal
Judicature Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Dated: (JUNE/JULY 1980) Pages: 33-42
Author(s)
W P MCLAUCHLAN
Date Published
1980
Length
11 pages
Annotation
THE U.S. SUPREME COURT'S CASELOAD OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS IS ANALYZED THROUGH EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS (EDA).
Abstract
THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY IS TO PRESENT A SET OF ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES WHICH ILLUMINATE PATTERNS IN AND MAGNITUDE OF THE CASELOAD GROWTH OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT. BASED ON THE AGGREGATE STATISTICS OF CASPER AND POSNER, THE STUDY USES EDA, A SET OF RELATIVELY NEW STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES. 'SMOOTHING' TECHNIQUES ENABLE THE RESEARCHER TO DETECT VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF PATTERN IN THE VARIABLE, AND THE 'ROUGHS' (RESIDUALS WHICH REMAIN AFTER THE SMOOTHED MEDIANS HAVE BEEN REMOVED) ARE USEFUL IN SEARCHING FOR DISCRETE, MICROLEVEL EVENTS OR VARIABLES WHICH CAN EXPLAIN INDIVIDUAL PERTURBATIONS IN THE TIME SERIES DATA. THE DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SUPREME COURT CASELOAD OVER TIME CLEARLY SHOWS THAT THE RATE OF CHANGE HAS SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASED, PARTICULARLY IN THE PERIOD AFTER WORLD WAR II. HOWEVER, IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN WORLD WARS I AND II, THE RATE OF CHANGE WAS HIGHER THAN FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1880 TO 1915. IN THE EARLIER PERIOD, THE RATE OF CHANGE INVOLVED ABOUT A THREE-CASE INCREASE PER YEAR, WHILE THE SAME RATE IN THE LATER PERIOD AMOUNTED TO NEARLY A 98-CASE INCREASE PER YEAR. THE STUDY IS SUPPORTED BY NUMEROUS STATISTICAL GRAPHS AND EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES.

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