As I was reviewing some of the recenting happenings at the Law School, I thought you would be interested in the post one of our students, Lindsey Weiss, recently wrote:
When it Comes to Legal Opinions, Does Name-Dropping Work?
The debate is over. It is empirically settled: Cantwell v Connecticut is the most influential United States Supreme Court case of all time; Branzburg v Hayes is the most well-grounded. So says a recent paper by Professor James F. Spriggs II and his coauthors entitled Network Analysis and Law: Measuring the Legal Importance of Precedent at the U.S. Supreme Court. Spriggs addressed the Workshop on Judicial Behavior Wednesday evening to discuss the paper in which he and his coauthors apply network analysis (typically used for computer science and sociology) to legal opinions. Their aim: to identify “the most legally central” Supreme Court cases.
To continue reading, please click on this link to go to our faculty blog (I am sure there will be additional posts you may want to read!!!)