Litigation Strategies in US Social Movements

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

U.S. social movements in the latter half of the 20th century have increasingly used litigation as they worked to broaden legal rights. Yet we know little about how they pursue cases in the courts, particularly when and how they litigate strategically and whether and which litigation strategies are successful. This study will examine litigation in the federal courts by the U.S. women's movement from 1970 until the present, asking a) whether and how they develop and deploy litigation strategies and b) whether strategic litigation is successful in winning court cases and influencing broader social policy. The research will draw on qualitative case studies of key legal advocacy organizations and a quantitative data set of federal court cases. The work will further our understanding of how social groups gain greater legal equality in the judicial arena. The project will give greater agency to actors by moving "inside" movement advocacy organizations, through interviews with litigators and organizational archival data, to assess the development and deployment of litigation strategy and whether such litigation succeeds in winning legal cases and influencing broader policy. The project will bring wider understanding of social science research and advocacy lawyering and litigation to broader audiences in two ways. First, through Vanderbilt University's Center for Science Outreach, the project will recruit four high-school students for summer internships, mentoring them in social science inquiry and study of advocacy litigation. Second, the PI will share research findings with two broader audiences, a) high school, college, and law students in Nashville and at Vanderbilt University, and b) national and local legal professional groups and litigation advocacy groups.