The information on this website parts the curtain to reveal the inner-workings of the Supreme Court during its opinion-writing process. The information is presented in two formats. First, one can access the data electronically in the form of a spreadsheet from the Dataset Archive page. In that format, one can access data on each document, namely, the identity of the authoring Justice, the recipients, the date of the document, the case(s) related to the document, and a coding of the document's content. Second, one can view the scanned images of the documents from the Document Archive page. There are several search fields provided, including case name, docket numbers, document content, term, and Justice.
The documents on this website provide an opportunity for researchers, teachers, students, and the general public to view the process by which landmark and other decisions were crafted. It will reveal the bargaining and accommodation that transpires in the opinion-writing process.
Bibliography of Publications by the Authors Using the Justices' Papers
- Johnson, Timothy R., Paul J. Wahlbeck, and James F. Spriggs II. 2006. "The Influence of Oral Arguments on the U.S. Supreme Court." American Political Science Review 100(February): 99-113.
- Johnson, Timothy R., James F. Spriggs II., and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 2005. "Passing and Strategic Voting on the Supreme Court." Law and Society Review 39(June): 349-377.
- Maltzman, Forrest, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 2004. "A Conditional Model of Opinion Assignment on the Supreme Court." Political Research Quarterly. 57(Dec.): 551-563.
- Maltzman, Forrest, James F. Spriggs II, and Paul J. Wahlbeck 2000. Crafting Law on the Supreme Court: The Collegial Game. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Wahlbeck Paul J., James F. Spriggs II, and Forrest Maltzman.1999. "The Politics of Dissents and Concurrences on the U.S. Supreme Court."American Politics Quarterly 27(October): 488-514.
- Spriggs, James F. II., Forrest Maltzman, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1999. "Bargaining on the U.S. Supreme Court: Justices' Responses to Majority Opinion Drafts." Journal of Politics 61(May): 485-506.
- Maltzman, Forrest, James F. Spriggs II, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1999. "Strategy and Judicial Choice: New Institutionalist Approaches to Supreme Court Decision-Making." In Supreme Court Decision-Making: New Institutionalist Approaches. ed. Cornell Clayton and Howard Gillman. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- Wahlbeck, Paul J., James F. Spriggs II., and Forrest Maltzman. "Marshalling the Court: Bargaining and Accommodation on the Supreme Court." American Journal of Political Science 42(January): 294-315.
- Maltzman, Forrest, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1996. "May It Please the Chief? Opinion Assignments in the Rehnquist Court." American Journal of Political Science 40(May): 421-443.
- Maltzman, Forrest, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1996. "Inside the U.S. Supreme Court: The Reliability of the Justices' Conference Records." Journal of Politics 58(May): 528-539.
- Maltzman, Forrest, and Paul J. Wahlbeck. 1996. "Strategic Policy Considerations and Voting Fluidity on the Burger Court." American Political Science Review. 90(September): 581-592.
