Models of State High Court Decision Making in Sex Discrimination Cases

Abstract

This paper examines state high court decision making on sex discrimination cases for the period 1971-81. Using logistic regression, several policy models drawn from the comparative state policy and judicial behavior literatures are employed to predict court votes on sex discrimination appeals. The final model emphasizes the importance of policy type, selection system, court reputation, sex of the appellent, and the presence of at least one woman on the court.