March 7, 2020

Working The Refs As Well As The Supreme Courtroom -- A History?

Over the past times several years I've seen a fair number of references to how people (bloggers, op ed columnists) are "working the refs," pregnant the Supreme Court, past times framing issues before the Court non every bit raising contestable legal questions on which the writer is taking a side, but every bit presenting the Court amongst an chance to lead keep a opinion on some collateral issue. (I'm non committed to this Definition of "working the refs," but it's the best I tin create at this point.) The electrical current version is that the Supreme Court should endure alarm to the possibility that lower courts are applying "Trump Law," that is, rules of constabulary that they would non apply to whatever other president. That is an instance of working the refs: If yous dominion against Trump, you'll confirm the existence of Trump Law, which is non what you, devoted to the impartial dominion of law, wish to do. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 prior claim was indirect: While the master copy ACA conclusion was pending, conservative bloggers, etc., claimed that liberal bloggers, etc., were working the refs when they argued that a conclusion asset the ACA unconstitutional would severely harm the Court's reputation-- a claim that was itself a class of contrary double flip version of working the refs.

My feel is that working the refs is a relatively novel phenomenon. Of course of written report at that spot were before examples of commentary on pending together with late decided cases (Felix Frankfurter together with Alex Bickel inward The New Republic), which were aimed inward business office at world education/propaganda together with inward business office at some of the justices themselves. Those appear unlike to me from the electrical current forms of working the refs, perhaps because they rested on the supposition that the justices mightiness endure influenced past times arguments virtually the merits whereas working the refs seems to residue on the supposition that the justices are influenced past times world perceptions of their run rather than past times arguments. (Again, I'm non committed to that account. Maybe there's a amend one.) My enquiry on the Supreme Court inward the 1930s shows that at that spot was a fair amount of inside-the-(as nevertheless nonexistent)-beltway dinner political party gossip that circulated roughly the Court, together with that some justices were almost sure aware of the gossip. Again, that seems unlike from working the refs -- the gossip was virtually what had happened, non virtually what mightiness happen.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 showtime iteration of working the refs was the evolution of references to "the Greenhouse effect," the claim that some justices (nominally conservative ones) were unduly influenced past times their wish to larn the approving of Linda Greenhouse (or, the inside-the-beltway dinner political party set, or liberal media to a greater extent than generally). Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 relatively elementary text-search should endure able to rails this, though the technical ways of doing the search to plough upward entirely the Supreme Court related Greenhouse outcome from the climate related greenhouse outcome are beyond my abilities.

There's belike an interesting slice to endure written virtually the history of working the refs. My feel at this betoken is that it emerged every bit a termination of the proliferation of legal journalism together with quasi-journalism -- the opportunities presented past times impress media op ed practices, together with novel media blogging/tweeting practices. And (almost sure to a greater extent than controversially), my feel is that the practise originated amongst conservatives concerned that their nominal "control" of the Supreme Court wasn't existence translated into every bit many actual achievements every bit it should have. They attributed the outcomes to the fact that liberals were successfully working the refs, together with and thence started to run the refs themselves. (Here it would endure overnice to honor discussions that were (a) uncontroversial examples of working the refs (b) past times liberals.)

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