Ideological Determinants of Citations to Supreme Court Precedent Across the Federal Judiciary

Abstract

How do ideological factors explain the citation patterns of federal courts? Current literature uses citation data in myriad ways but leaves open the question of how ideological factors may influence citation from each level of the judicial hierarchy differently. Combining original data on citations to Supreme Court opinions by district courts from 1969 to 2005 with existing data on citations by the courts of appeals and Supreme Court, I present a more complete portrait of the scope of a precedent across the federal judiciary. I find that ideological factors are associated with differences in citing behavior on the federal courts. Both the appellate and district courts are responsive to Supreme Court precedent, but district courts are not equally responsive to liberal and conservative updates to doctrine. Further, as the Supreme Court ideology changes from the time of setting precedent, appellate courts are less likely to cite the precedent, but district courts cite it more. These results suggest that the relationship between ideology and precedent adherence is complicated by the distinct institutional features of the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and district courts.

Hierarchical Interactions and Compliance in Comparative Courts

“…The non-utilization of panels by the U.S. Supreme Court presents unique opportunities for lower court judges to engage in strategic behavior. Recognizing the stable composition of Supreme Court justices and the relative ease with which appellate court judges can discern the Court’s ideological preferences should enable them to respond to precedents strategically (Salam 2022; Westerland et al 2010). However, institutional settings where higher courts, like that of Canada and the United Kingdom, rely on panels instead of sitting en banc should observe less strategic or ideologically divergent behavior since appellate judges within these systems cannot definitively predict which Supreme Court justices will be on a given panel reviewing a lower court decision.…”