May It Please the Chief? Opinion Assignments in the Rehnquist Court

Abstract

Theory: Majority opinion assignments made by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can be accounted for with both organizational and attitudinal models of behavior. Hypotheses: The likelihood that the Chief assigns an opinion to a justice depends upon the importance of each case, the size of the initial majority coalition, the timing of the decision, and each justice's expertise, efficiency, workload, and policy preferences. Method: A discrete choice model is used to test a multivariate model of the assignments made by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Results: Chief Justice Rehnquist's assignments are determined by the Court's organizational needs, rather than the Chief's policy preferences.