Abstract
In this article the causal connection between public opinion and law is examined and the representative model of judicial behavior is reappraised. After a description of some of the important linkages between public sentiments and judicial behavior, the empirical relationship between public attitudes toward criminal punishment and the sentences imposed for different crimes by the federal district courts is assessed during the period from 1970 to 1980. Inconsistent responses by the judiciary are found, which lead to a revision of the representative model. It is argued that this model must take into account demographic and other constraints on judicial action, as well as the salience of political issues.
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Silver, C., Robert, S. Public opinion and the federal judiciary: Crime, punishment, and demographic constraints. Popul Res Policy Rev 3, 255–280 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128463
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128463