Opinion assignment shifts to the senior majority justice when the chief justice dissents.
Evidence
If the chief justice is in dissent, then the senior associate justice aligned with the majority assigns the opinion of the Court. Other justices remain free to write concurring or dissenting opinions and often do. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1567
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies the opinion-assignment rule and distinguishes concurring from dissenting opinions as separate options open to any justice.
- XREF: connects to: The chief justice assigns majority opinions or yields to the senior associate when dissenting — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 946; The assigned justice must craft an opinion attractive enough to hold five votes. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1569; Justices bargain over opinion drafts, trading requested changes for votes to join. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1568 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Collegial courts make decisions through group conference and majority-coalition opinion assignment
#exemplifies(0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1597 - Partisan diversity on a court makes dissenting opinions more frequent
#complicates(0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1599 - A single justice’s defection can flip a Supreme Court decision
#responds-to(0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 950 - Long judicial tenure occasionally left enfeebled justices deciding important cases
#complicates(0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 2214