Study: Over Time, Public Opinion Shapes Supreme Court Opinions

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Public opinion about the First Amendment makes a difference with the Supreme Court. That’s the conclusion of a study by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, which analyzed more than 50 years of research on how public perspective shapes court decision making. Jack Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School and project director said the study confirmed “what social scientists have known for a long time – that the Supreme Court’s decisions tend to reflect long term changes in public attitudes.” (7/14/06)