Appellate Court Supervision in the Federal Judiciary: A Hierarchical Perspective

Abstract

In this article, we examine factors that influence appellate supervision in the lower tiers of the federal judicial hierarchy. Drawing on the insights of agency theory, we develop a framework to assess the determinants of circuit panel decisions to affirm or reverse federal district court rulings. Our analysis of U.S. Courts of Appeals' published civil rights decisions over a 29-year period (1971-1999) offers support for several hypothesized relationships. As expected, the outcome of appellate review varied with the level of agreement between the preferences of the circuit (as principal) and the policy position of the trial court (as agent). In addition, we found that circuits were more likely to affirm trial court decisions that were contrary to the preferences of the federal district court judge, suggesting that circuit judges may rely on ideological signals when evaluating appeals before them. We also hypothesized that the monitoring activities of circuits would be influenced by individual circuits' relationship with their principal, the Supreme Court. Consistent with these expectations, panels were more likely to reverse district court rulings that were incongruous with the policy predisposition of the High Court. In addition, as Supreme Court scrutiny of a circuit increased, the likelihood of a circuit panel subsequently reversing a district court also increased. Although further inquiry is necessary to clarify the interpretation of this result, the finding does suggest that district courts are more likely to engage in decision making that deviates from circuit preferences when that circuit faces more intense supervision from the Supreme Court.

The Political Economy of Beliefs: Why Fiscal and Social Conservatives/Liberals Come Hand-in-Hand

“…52 47 Litigants' decisions to appeal may be in response to previous years' legal decisions, however, so controlling for 1[Mct > 0] will bias Lawct; the bias is more severe for more distant lags and non-existent for the most advanced lead. We use random assignment of District Court judges to identify 1[Mct > 0]: District judge demographic characteristics are correlated with reversal rates (Haire, Songer, and Lindquist 2003;Sen 2011;Barondes 2010;Steinbuch 2009); and expected reversal rates could encourage litigants from pursuing an appeal. Once we use instruments to identify both 1[Mct > 0] and Lawct, estimates should be roughly invariant to the inclusion or exclusion of additional lags and leads.…”

The Impact of Courts of Appeals on Substantive and Procedural Success in the Federal District Courts

“…Hettinger, Lindquist and Martinek 2006;Haire, Lindquist and Songer 2003;Smith 2006) or to utilize the precedent of higher courts (e.g. Baum 1980;Hansford and Spriggs 2006), we know very little about the impact that courts of appeals decisions have on these lower courts.…”

Insiders and Outsiders: Does Forbidding Sexual Harassment Exacerbate Gender Inequality?

“…A handful of papers examine the correlation between district judge demographic characteristics and their reversal rates (Steinbuch 2009, Barondes 2011, Haire, Songer, and Lindquist 2003.…”