The Influence of Religion on United States Supreme Court Decision Making
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Date
2016-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Supreme Court justices are human beings; they are influenced by a variety of factors when making decisions. Existing research, in fact, suggests that justices are heavily influenced by ideology and policy preferences when deciding cases. Despite this, there is virtually no research on the role that religion plays in influencing United State Supreme Court decision making. In this thesis, I attempt to address this knowledge gap by qualitatively analyzing opinions written by justices and the religious backgrounds of these justices and through considering the voting patterns of justices of different religions. Given the complexities associated with researching this topic, there is much ambiguity surrounding any conclusions that can be reached from this research. As a result, definitive conclusions on the influence of religion on Supreme Court decision making cannot be reached; nonetheless, it appears that the religious views of justices possibly (and, in some cases, likely) play a role in influencing the justices’ decisions in Establishment Clause and free exercise of religion cases, as well as in cases pertaining to abortion, the death penalty, and gay marriage. Religion may influence decision making in these cases in both explicit, or direct, and implicit, or indirect, manners.
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Keywords
Supreme Court, Religion, Judicial Decision Making, American Politics, Justices