What does it mean for a supreme court to ‘make law?' When is it possible to say that its decisions are ‘precedents?' To what extent should a supreme court's pronouncements be taken into account by others – lower courts and political branches? And how should these other actors reason with...

Commentary and analysis of the Supreme Court decision in Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., and reversing two decisions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In Ortiz, a 7-2 decision, the Court reversed the Fifth Circuit's affirmation of a Rule 23(b)(1)(B) mandatory global settlement of asbestos...

Electoral incentives dictate that “the people's” representatives are primarily concerned with securing reelection. Can this expectation be applied to non-representative offices such as State Supreme Court justices? A majority of states use elections to choose non-policymakers such as State...