Collaborative Project: Extending the Multi-User Database of Decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project builds on the existing Multi-User Database of decisions on the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Originally funded with support from the National Science Foundation, the Multi-User Database is a comprehensive source drawn from a sample of published decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. This rich dataset, with over 200 variables, currently includes observations for approximately 20,000 decisions of the appeals courts from 1926 to 1996. The collection of observations over a seventy-one year period has contributed to several published manuscripts that contribute to lines of inquiry that range from longitudinal analyses of issue agendas to models of case outcomes and judicial voting behavior. This comprehensive database on appeals court decisions has stimulated research on courts that had previously been described as "among the least comprehended of the major federal institutions." Nonetheless, the utility of this data source will diminish over time if it does not remain up-to-date. Shifts in political power at the national level, doctrinal change in High Court precedent, and evolving issues created by newly-passed statutes continue to characterize the decision making environment for appeals court judges in the twenty-first century. These developments require that law and courts scholarship continue to draw upon sources that are derived from current judicial decisions. This project extends the existing Multi-User Database to include decisions of the appeals courts from 1997-2002. In addition to updating the existing database, the proposal increases the sample size from the original sampling design and adds several variables to enhance the utility of this data source.