The Roberts Court and the Technicalization of Correctional Law

Bibliographic Data

ID13102465
AuthorsKevin I Minor (Eastern Kentucky University, corresponding author), Jennifer L Tilley (American University)
Year2016
Volume1
Issue1
Pages20-39
Publication date2016-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCorrections (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2377-4657 • E-ISSN: 2377-4665
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23774657.2016.1105655
OpenAlexW2340073613
LanguageEN
References cited33

There is minimum scholarship on the sentencing and corrections decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, and few analyses of the relationship of this jurisprudence to historical developments in correctional law. This study examines 63 such decisions rendered during the 2006 to 2013 terms. Results indicate a concentration of rulings in the areas of sentencing and habeas, and a majority of decisions focused on technical matters of substance and procedure rather than substantive constitutional concerns; only four milestone substantive constitutional decisions were identified. A large proportion of rulings were sharply divided, and more than one half favored convicted parties. Findings are interpreted using Weber’s conception of the formal rationalization of law and in terms of ideological legitimacy of the Court. The technicalization trend is conceptualized as an extension and sustaining force of the Rehnquist Court’s conservative deferentialism, an ongoing scaling back of the “hands-on” era in corrections

Habeas corpus · Jurisprudence · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · Substantive law · Supreme court · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal and Constitutional Studies

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