Supreme Court conference discussions rarely change justices’ votes.

Evidence

These deliberations have little of the sharp give-and-take characteristic of legislative debate. In fact, according to Chief Justice Rehnquist, there was surprisingly little interplay among the justices at conference, and Justice William Douglas observed that conference discussions rarely changed a justice’s view of the case. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 941

Categorization

• QUESTION: If conference barely changes votes, when and how do justices actually persuade one another? This suggests the decisive persuasion happens in opinion drafting, worth checking against the chapter’s later discussion of bargaining over opinions.
• XREF: connects to: Supreme Court conference discussions rarely change justices’ pre-formed views — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1562; Conference discussion rarely changes a justice’s vote because format discourages interchange — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1562; Supreme Court justices change their conference votes nine percent of the time — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1571 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Supreme Court conference discussions rarely change justices’ pre-formed views #corroborates (0.98) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1562
• Conference discussion rarely changes a justice’s vote because format discourages interchange #expands (0.92) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1562
• Conference votes are tentative and can change before the decision is announced #contradicts (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 946
• Supreme Court justices change their conference votes nine percent of the time #complicates (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1571
• Collegiality only marginally shifts judges’ settled votes #corroborates (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1338
• Sitting justices rarely change views, so screening nominees works #corroborates (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 540