Attitudinalists (and others) might be interested in a new
working paper by Mike Dorf (Columbia),
entitled: "Whose Ox is Being Gored? When Attitudinalism Meets Federalism". An excerpt from his abstract follows:
“Empirical research indicates that factors such as an
individual Justice's general political ideology play a substantial role in the decision of Supreme Court cases. Although this pattern holds in federalism cases, views about the proper allocation of authority between the state and federal governments - independent of whether the particular outcome in any given case is "liberal" or "conservative" - can sometimes be decisive, as demonstrated by the 2005 decision in Gonzales v. Raich,
in which "conservative" Justices voted to invalidate a strict federal drug provision in light of California's legalization of medical marijuana, and "liberal" Justices voted to uphold the federal law.”
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