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Another Look at the Judicial Power of the Purse: Courts, Corrections, and State Budgets in the 1980s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

John Fliter
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In measuring the impact of court-ordered prison reforms on state budgets, Taggart (1989) challenged Harriman and Straussman's (1983) conclusion that court decisions have affected state spending for corrections. This Research Note explores important questions left unanswered by both studies: (1) What impact did the courts have on cases litigated during the 1980s? (2) Why are the courts able to influence spending in some states but not others? The results support Taggart's conclusion that spending for corrections follows an incremental pattern. Judicial influence on state budgets declined during the 1980s as courts narrowed the scope of prison reforms.

Type
Research Note
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , 1996 , pp. 399 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

I am grateful to Wayne McIntosh and four anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on earlier drafts.

References

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Cases

Holt v. Sarver, 309 F. Supp. 362 (1970).Google Scholar
Pugh v. Locke, 406 F. Supp. 318 (1976).Google Scholar
Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265 (1980).Google Scholar