Lobbying the Supreme Court: Reagan’s Solicitor General and the Establishment Clause
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1990.11.0.31-55Abstract
Although professionalism is the expected norm, the Reagan Administration sought to use its solicitor general as an advocate for “social agenda” issues. This was especially apparent in the briefs submitted by the solicitor general to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Government in establishment of religion cases. Although prior research suggested that conservative justices would be influenced by the arguments of a conservative executive, this study indicates that the Supreme Court refused to heed the attempts of President Reagan’s solicitor generals to fundamentally alter its approach to resolving establishment clause disputes. Resistance to politicization suggests that there are limits to lobbying by the solicitor general.References
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