Research Note: Investigating the Viability of Stylometric Analysis to Attribute Authorship of Supreme Court Opinions

IF 0.7 4区社会学 Q3 Social Sciences

Justice System Journal Pub Date : 2020-03-06 DOI:10.1080/0098261x.2020.1723455

B. Phillips

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract Function word content analysis is a proven method previously used to study disputed authorship in documents such as historical letters and novels. It has been used in similar fashion to review Supreme Court Justices’ legal opinions, demonstrating general contribution by clerks and variation related to their influence. It has not been used to create a “fingerprint” for clerks that may be used not only to understand their contributions but to directly attribute authorship of any given opinion to them or their Justice. This study builds on previous work to test the potential of a new application of this method in determining the contributions of Supreme Court clerks to the authorship of opinions. Drawing on the academic writings of clerks and Justices, this method has potential for attributing authorship contributions of clerks to individual legal opinions. This could open opinions to review as early and formative work of legal scholars and jurists, many of whom serve as clerks early in their careers. It may also have application to investigating authorship contributions in other legal writings.

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研究说明:调查文体学分析的可行性，以确定最高法院意见的作者

功能词内容分析是一种经过验证的方法，以前用于研究文献中有争议的作者，如历史信件和小说。它也以类似的方式被用来审查最高法院大法官的法律意见，显示书记员的总体贡献以及与其影响力相关的变化。它还没有被用来为法官创造一个“指纹”，不仅可以用来了解他们的贡献，而且可以直接将任何特定意见的作者归属于他们或他们的法官。本研究建立在先前工作的基础上，以测试该方法在确定最高法院书记员对意见书作者的贡献方面的新应用的潜力。利用书记员和大法官的学术著作，这种方法有可能将书记员的作者贡献归因于个人法律意见。这可以使人们对法律学者和法学家的早期和形成性工作进行评论，他们中的许多人在职业生涯的早期担任书记员。它也可能适用于调查其他法律著作的作者贡献。

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来源期刊

Justice System Journal LAW-

CiteScore

0.90

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Justice System Journal is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes original research articles on all aspects of law, courts, court administration, judicial behavior, and the impact of all of these on public and social policy. Open as to methodological approaches, The Justice System Journal aims to use the latest in advanced social science research and analysis to bridge the gap between practicing and academic law, courts and politics communities. The Justice System Journal invites submission of original articles and research notes that are likely to be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of law, courts, and judicial administration, broadly defined. Articles may draw on a variety of research approaches in the social sciences. The journal does not publish articles devoted to extended analysis of legal doctrine such as a law review might publish, although short manuscripts analyzing cases or legal issues are welcome and will be considered for the Legal Notes section. The Justice System Journal was created in 1974 by the Institute for Court Management and is published under the auspices of the National Center for State Courts. The Justice System Journal features peer-reviewed research articles as well as reviews of important books in law and courts, and analytical research notes on some of the leading cases from state and federal courts. The journal periodically produces special issues that provide analysis of fundamental and timely issues on law and courts from both national and international perspectives.