This article examines the characteristics prioritized by state supreme court justices when selecting a chief justice.
Background: While federal courts use seniority or appointment, many states rely on peer votes. The consequences of this method are not fully understood.
Theory & Methods: We analyze over 50 years of original contest data across different selection contests to understand the process better.
Findings:
* Peer vote default is often seniority rotation, regardless of ideology or divergence from court median.
* Ideological alignment with colleagues does not influence chief justice selection.
* There's no evidence of gender or racial discrimination against women or people of color.
* Dissent levels among justices impact their likelihood of being chosen as chief justice.
Implications: The findings highlight the prevalence and specific factors influencing this leadership selection mechanism.
| Selecting Chief Justices by Peer Vote was authored by Greg Goelzhauser, Madelyn Fife and Stephen Loertscher. It was published by Sage in SPPQ in 2021. |
