Judicial rulings often fail without compliance and political support

Evidence

In this respect, Bakke is hardly unique. Although judicial rulings may establish legal obligations, those affected by a ruling may refuse to comply with it. For example, a decade after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education and ordered the elimination of racially segregated dual school systems, less than 2 percent of black children in the South were attending integrated schools. Rather than endorsing judicial rulings, public officials may ignore them, attack them, or attempt to overturn them. For instance, in the early 1990s, many members of Congress campaigned for a constitutional amendment to override the Supreme Court’s ruling that the First Amendment protected the burning of the American flag as a form of symbolic protest. Groups also may reject judicial rulings and organize to oppose them in other political arenas. The most visible example of this during the 1970s and 1980s was the right-to-life movement, which emerged as a national movement in direct response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, the ruling that announced a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 198

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the course’s question of whether courts can make policy — connects to Brown v. Board implementation scholarship and the courts-versus-politics debate. — connects to: Judicial rulings often fail to secure compliance or resolve conflict — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 211; Courts rarely dictate policy because rulings need political support.; Courts lack the power to dictate public policy and depend on political support — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 212 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Courts rarely dictate policy because rulings need political support. #expands (0.93)
• Courts lack the power to dictate public policy and depend on political support #expands (0.93) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 212
• Judicial rulings often fail to secure compliance or resolve conflict #expands (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 211
• Legal obligation alone does not secure compliance with judicial rulings #expands (0.88) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3187
• Courts depend on political support to have influence #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 200
• Judicial power over policy is more limited than it appears #expands (0.82) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 191
• Judicial rulings can set legal obligations without settling disputed public policy #complicates (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 207
• Judicial independence from short-run politics drives public acceptance of rulings #complicates (0.75) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3291