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Pulling Punches: Congressional Constraints on the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Rulings, 1987–2000 Anna Harvey, New York University Barry Friedman, New York University, School of Law Download the Paper (PDF format) - July 26, 2007 Tell a colleague about it. Printing Tips: Select 'print as image' in the Acrobat print dialog if you have trouble printing. ABSTRACT: To date, no study has found evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court is constrained by Congress in its constitutional decisions. We addressed the selection bias inherent in previous studies with a statute-centered, rather than a case-centered, analysis, following all congressional laws enacted between 1987 and 2000. We uncovered considerable congressional constraint in the Court's constitutional rulings. In particular, we found that the probability that the Rehnquist Court would strike a liberal congressional law rose between 47% and 288% as a result of the 1994 congressional elections, depending on the legislative model used. SUGGESTED CITATION: Anna Harvey and Barry Friedman, "Pulling Punches: Congressional Constraints on the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Rulings, 1987–2000" (July 26, 2007). New York University School of Law. New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 56. http://lsr.nellco.org/nyu/plltwp/papers/56 | REPOSITORY HOME  | SEARCH  | MY ACCOUNT  | NELLCO HOME | Powered by bepress.