Congress and the Political Expansion of the United States District Courts

Posted: 18 Apr 2001

See all articles by John M. de Figueiredo

John M. de Figueiredo

Duke University School of Law; Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative

Gerald S. Gryski

Auburn University - Department of Political Science

Emerson H. Tiller

Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law

Gary Zuk

Auburn University - Department of Political Science

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Abstract

Expanding the number of U.S. district judgeships is often justified as a response to expanding caseloads. Increasing judgeships during unified government, however, allows Congress and the President to engage in political (patronage and ideological) control of the federal district courts. This paper examines empirically the relative importance of caseload pressure and political motives for Congress to expand the number of federal district judgeships. We demonstrate that politics dominates the timing of judgeship expansion in the U.S. District Courts. We also show that both politics and caseload affect the actual size of those timed expansions. In particular, we find that before 1970, Congress seemed to have strong political motivations for the size of an expansion. After 1970, Congress became much more attentive to caseload considerations.

Suggested Citation

de Figueiredo, John M. and Gryski, Gerald S. and Tiller, Emerson H. and Zuk, Gary, Congress and the Political Expansion of the United States District Courts. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=224432

John M. De Figueiredo (Contact Author)

Duke University School of Law ( email )

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Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

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Gerald S. Gryski

Auburn University - Department of Political Science ( email )

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Emerson H. Tiller

Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law ( email )

375 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
United States

Gary Zuk

Auburn University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Auburn, AL 36849
United States
(334) 844-5370 (Phone)

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