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Article
The Futility of Appeal: Disciplinary Insights into the "Affirmance Effect" on the United States Courts of Appeals
Florida State University Law Review
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2005
Keywords
- appellate courts,
- cognitive psychology,
- heuristics,
- biases,
- federal courts,
- judicial behavior,
- attitudinal model,
- strategic model
Abstract
In contrast to the Supreme Court, which typically reverses the cases it hears, the United States Courts of Appeals almost always affirm the cases that they hear. We set out to explore this affirmance effect on the U.S. Courts of Appeal by using insights drawn from law and economics (i.e., selection theory), political science (i.e., attitudinal theory and new institutionalism), and cognitive psychology (i.e., heuristics and biases, including the status quo and omission biases).
Citation Information
Chris Guthrie and Tracey E. George. "The Futility of Appeal: Disciplinary Insights into the "Affirmance Effect" on the United States Courts of Appeals" Florida State University Law Review Vol. 32 (2005) p. 357 ISSN: 0096-3070 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/chris-guthrie/7/