The limits of legitimacy : dissenting opinions, media coverage, and public responses to Supreme Court decisions /
When the U.S. Supreme Court announces a decision, reporters simplify and dramatize the complex legal issues by highlighting dissenting opinions and thus emphasizing conflict among the justices. This sometimes sensationalistic coverage fosters public controversy over specific rulings despite polls th...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Ann Arbor :
University of Michigan Press,
[2015]
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | When the U.S. Supreme Court announces a decision, reporters simplify and dramatize the complex legal issues by highlighting dissenting opinions and thus emphasizing conflict among the justices. This sometimes sensationalistic coverage fosters public controversy over specific rulings despite polls that show that Americans strongly believe in the Court's legitimacy as an institution. In this book, the author illuminates this link between case law and public opinion. He employs case studies of eminent domain decisions, analysis of media reporting, an experiment to test how volunteers respond to media messages, and finally the natural experiment of the controversy of the Affordable Care Act. He finds that the media tends not to quote from majority opinions. However, the greater the division over a particular ruling among the justices, the greater the likelihood that the media will criticize that ruling, characterize it as "activist," and employ inflammatory rhetoric. He then demonstrates that the media's portrayal of a decision as much as the substance of the decision itself influences citizens' reactions to and support for it.-- |
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| Physical Description: | x, 243 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-235) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780472072743 0472072749 9780472052745 0472052748 |