Overruled?

by Barnes, Jeb

• ISBN13: 9780804748834
• ISBN10: 0804748837
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-02-25
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

Since the mid-1970s, Congress has passed hundreds of overrides--laws that explicitly seek to reverse or modify judicial interpretations of statutes. Whether front-page news or not, overrides serve potentially vital functions in American policy-making. Federal statutes--and court cases interpreting them--often require revision. Some are ambiguous, some conflict, and others are obsolete. Under these circumstances, overrides promise Congress a means to repair flawed statutes, reconcile discordant court decisions, and reverse errant judicial interpretations. Overrides also allow dissatisfied litigants to revisit issues and raise concerns in Congress that courts have overlooked. Of course, promising is one thing and delivering is quite another. Accordingly, this book asks: Do overrides, in fact, effectively clarify the law, reverse objectionable judicial statutory interpretations, and broaden deliberation on contested issues? The answers provide new insights into the complex role of overrides in U.S. policy-making and in the politics of contemporary court-Congress relations.

Author Biography

Jeb Barnes is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California. He is currently a research fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	vii
Acknowledgments	x
Background	1	(56)
1. The Questions, Debate, and Overview	2	(29)
2. Overrides in Contemporary U.S. Policy-Making: Promise and Current Understanding	31	(26)
Part I Do Overrides Matter?	57	(42)
3. Assumptions and Hypotheses	58	(18)
4. Data, Methods, and Findings	76	(23)
Part II What Patterns of Court-Congress Relations Underlie the Override Process?	99	(87)
5. A Typology of Override Scenarios	100	(36)
6. Operationalization of Typology, Findings, and Discussion	136	(23)
7. Under What Conditions...? Patterns and Hypotheses	159	(27)
Conclusion
8. Broader Implications and Avenues for Future Inquiry	186	(11)
Appendix Summary of Overrides Analyzed	197	(13)
Index	210