Online Code Book |
Spaeth Name |
Normalizations |
Decision Direction |
DIR |
3 values |
In order to determine whether the Court supports or opposes the issue to which the case pertains, this variable codes the ideological "direction" of the decision.
Specification of direction comports with conventional usage for the most part except for the interstate relations, private law, and the miscellaneous issues. "Unspecifiable" has been entered either because the issue does not lend itself to a liberal or conservative description (e.g., a boundary dispute between two states, real property, wills and estates), or because no convention exists as to which is the liberal side and which is the conservative side (e.g., the legislative veto). This variable will also contain "unspecifiable" where one state sues another under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and where parties or issue cannot be determined because of a tied vote or lack of information.
Note especially that the direction (pro- or anti-liability)of the three liability variables (80060, 80070, and 80080) depend on the disposition the Court made of the case, and which party won or lost. For 80070 -- non-governmental liability - a liberal vote and case decision support the injured person, organiation, or thing (res). For 80060 - governmental liability - a vote and case outcome that supports government is invariably defined as liberal. Note that if the injured entity is the other party in the case, said party loses, by definition. On the other hand, of course, if the injured entity wins, then of necessity the government loses. Where liability is assigned to both plaintiff and respondent, direction is considered indetermnable.
For purposes of the governmental liability issue, government includes state and local governmental entities, foreign governments, and governmentally owned property. In the rare instance of a conflict between governmental body and an injured person, organiation, or thing the governmental outcome controls directionality. Most such conflicts, however, locate in other issues; e.g., attorneys' and governemtnal employees' compensation or fees, and military personnel and veterans.
It bears emphasizing that the entry for directionality is determined by reference to the issue variable. If you are using the Case Centered Dataset organized by split votes, it is entirely possible for a citation to relate to a second issue whose direction is opposite that of the first issue. For example, in Air Pollution Variance Board of the State of Colorado v. Western Alfalfa Corporation, 416 U.S. 861 (1974), the Court decided that the Fourth Amendment was not violated by a health inspector's warrantless entry onto the property of a business to inspect smoke pollution. The first issue (search and seizure) is coded conservative; the second issue (natural resources) is coded liberal.
Values:
- conervative
- liberal
- unspecified