Langer Natural Courts Database from NSF Grant

Data format: These data are saved in STATA 9 format. Click here to download the STATA file

Description of Variables: If you double click on a variable in the Data Editor of STATA, you will find a description of each variable along with coding rules. In addition to state code, state name, and year, there is also a variable called naturalcourtname, which refers to the name of the chief justice for each natural court. In states where a chief justice leaves and another assumes office mid-year, both names are on the court.  

Sources for these data: All information was collected by author and author’s graduate assistants and funded by the National Science Foundation. There were several sources for these data (e.g., State Web pages, State Constitutions, Book of States, American Judicature Society, American Bench, Lexis-Nexis, State Court Clerks
and Librarians). Every source was cross-checked, which revealed some inconsistencies across sources. Whenever such inconsistencies occurred, I contacted the State Court’s Clerk or Librarian to resolve the inconsistency.

Proper Citation for these data:

The Brace, Hall, Langer 2000 JOP provides the methodology for the estimation of individual level ideology scores. However, the Langer NSF grant is the source of these natural courts data, which provide individual and court level ideology scores, as well as the revisions and updates.

Langer, Laura. National Science Foundation CAREER Grant, SES-0092187 “Multiple Actors and Competing Risks: State Supreme Court Justices and the Policymaking (Unmaking) Game of Judicial Review.” Washington, D.C., (May 2001-May 2006), Sole PI

Brace, Paul, Laura Langer, and Melinda Gann Hall. 2000. “Measuring the Preferences of State Supreme Court Judges.” Journal of Politics 62 (May): 387-413.

Texas and Oklahoma: There was some difficulty with identification of the criminal appeals courts for Texas and Oklahoma. The civil court for Texas is accurate, but the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals is somewhat incomplete. Information gaps are even greater for the Oklahoma civil and criminal court of appeals. Most of the problems were due to lack of distinction in the information provided by these courts--lists of names without identification of which court. As a result, the court level ideology scores for the Oklahoma Civil and Criminal Courts and the Texas Criminal Court are computed with incomplete information. Despite several attempts via phone and letters to collect these data, there remain some significant gaps. The information I have collected is nonetheless included in the database.