An Integrated Case-Related Model of Judicial Decision Making: Explaining State Supreme Court Decisions in Judicial Review Cases

Employing data from more than three thousand state supreme court judicial review cases, I construct and test an integrated case-related model of judicial decision making. Logit analysis reveals that the type of issue raised, the identity of the challenging party, the constitutional arguments advanced, the centrality of the constitutional challenge, and the lower court ruling on constitutionality all have an independent impact on state supreme court decisions in judicial review cases. The findings clearly provide support for the notion that more complex theoretical and methodological approaches provide a more complete explanation of judicial decision making.