Questions:
- In the last 50 years or so, how many U.S. Supreme Court cases dealt with Fifth Amendment self-incrimination?
- Of the four Court eras covered by the database (Warren, Burger, Rehnquist and Roberts), which court era had the most number of liberal decisions?
- How many cases from Ohio made it to the U.S. Supreme Court?
Answering these types of questions just got easier. Released this week, the Supreme Court Database allows anyone to search, pull up cases, and perform simple analyses. This new database has created quite a stir on the legal blogs.
The best part of the Supreme Court Database is the search options!
If you are interested in a single case, you can access information about it (along with links to the decision) by entering the citation or case name. A detailed case report includes lower court background, a break down on how the Justices voted for each legal issue in the case, whether the outcome is considered conservative or liberal, and links to copies of the decision on the web. Two links point to free copies of the case decision.
If you want to analyze all the cases or a grouping of cases, use the database search to create lists of cases by legal issue, or by Court Era, by vote detail by each Justice, vote direction (liberal or conservative), legal precedent changes, etc.
I had fun trying all sorts of searches. How many cases declared law unconstitutional? How many cases changed precedent? What are the 50 most prevelant petitioners (the person who initiated the case)? The database searches are lightening fast! No waiting for tables to display.
“In addition to providing a web-based platform to search and analyze the Supreme Court Database, this site also provides downloadable files that researchers can use with their own statistical software.” Durable links to searches, lists and tables work also! Generate lists or tables and share the link with others. For an example, see my answer links below. Way Cool!
To use the database: At the Supreme Court Database site, click the Analysis search tab and then click the Specifications tab.
Coverage: Data coverage right now is from 1953 to 2008 and includes data for 7367 cases. The database will be continuously updated. Funding from the National Science Foundation is supporting the posting of the court’s decisions and data back to 1792 over the next four years.
Answers:
- There have been 106 U.S. Supreme Court cases on self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Click for a list of these cases.
- The Warren Court had 66.7% liberal decisions and only 32.1% conservative. Click for the table. (If you wish to see how liberal and conservative is determined, click on documentation. )
- In the last 50 years, 80 cases from Ohio reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Click for a list of these cases.
