Research
Beyond Consensus: Gender, Chief Justices, and Leadership on State Supreme Courts. 2021. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. [Data and Replication Materials]
Judicial Nominations to the Courts of Appeals and the Strategic Decision to Elevate. 2020. Justice System Journal. 41:2. 118-138.
[Data and Replication Materials]
A Matter of Style: Leadership and Gender on State Supreme Courts. 2018. Judicature. 102:2. 48-57. Co-written with Charlie Hollis Whittington (Georgetown University / Center for American Progress).
[Data]
Women Rule: Gendered Leadership and State Supreme Court Chief Justice Selection. 2018. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. 39:1. 104-125. Co-written with Holley Tankersley (Coastal Carolina University).
[Data and Replication Materials]
Click here to watch a presentation of this research given at Marshall University in 2016 for the Paul E. Stewart Distinguished Lecture Series
Determining Factors in Perceptions of Judicial Greatness. 2017. Midsouth Political Science Review. 18:1. 27-45. Co-written with Colin Glennon (East Tennessee State University)
[Data and Replication Materials]
The Economic Roots of External Efficacy: Assessing the Relationship between External Political Efficacy and Income Inequality. Canadian Journal of Political Science. 48:4. 791-813.
[Data and Replication Materials]
OTHER PROJECTS
Senior Judges: There's very little research on senior judges in the courts of appeals. What research that's out there looks at individual voting behavior. While I'm interested in this behavior, I'm more interested in the macro-effects of senior-status judges on the decisions of other political institutions. I'm particularly interested in how their presence may shape appellate court confirmations, and cases selected by the Supreme Court for review.
Gender and Backlash: I've seen any number of publications examining gender and court decision making where male judges vote one way when there are no females on their court, and another as the number of female judges on their court increases. What's interesting is that the likelihood male judges voting along with female colleagues decreases as the number of female colleagues increases. My co-author and I are examining this phenomenon as a product of gender-related backlash.
Women and State Supreme Court Elections: This research agenda started off as some simple conference papers, but has now grown into a book-length manuscript my co-author and I are hoping to start shopping around soon. In short, there's really no comprehensive analysis of women in state supreme courts. We are particularly interested in gender and court primary races, among other topics.