Constitutional Issue Coding

Since this research deals with whole populations, the data provided indicates the population parameters. While the examination of voting patterns was able to take each justice into account because I was able to use their vote in each case, the same is not true when I look at the constitutional issues in each case. Justices may vote on a case but they do not always write an opinion or dissent. It is true that Justices will often sign on to another Justices’ opinion but in this case Justices are only coded if they were the author of an opinion that discussed one of the constitutional issues in question. This is in part practical: all coding is supported by direct quotes that can be attributed only to the author, and given a lack of knowledge about the motivations a justice may have for signing on an opinion, it would be a leap to code the views of a justice remained silent on the specifics of a topic, save cosigning. 

The coding can be found here and provides the case name, case summary, a code for whether the issues at hand in the case were liberal (expanding abortion rights) or conservative (limiting rights), the state where the case stated, the underlying statute (if applicable), and a code for each Justice who wrote on the matter regarding one of seven possible constitutional issues: equal protection, due process, privacy, state interests, stare decisis, fetal personhood, and first amendment issues.