Pressure Groups and the Courts

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 387.

The role of the American courts in the determination of public policy brings them within the range of agencies with which, under some circumstances, pressure organizations must concern themselves. The records of presidential appointees to the SupremeCourt undergo a searching scrutiny by pressure organizations, which are quick to oppose the confirmation of individuals thought to be biased against group interests. Given the customs of judicial action it is not good form to attempt to pressure judges. Yet interest groups often play an active role in litigation to test the constitutionality of legislation; the existence of an organization incidentally permits a sharing of the costs of such cases. Beyond the realm of constitutional questions, in some areas the reality of law is fixed not so much by the initiative of public authority as by the vigor of private litigation to maintain rights. The activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People present perhaps the most conspicuous instance of group endeavor over a long period to mold the law in its effects on a group of citizens. Other organizations, too, appear as friends of the court in Supreme Court cases. Their participation has, as Professor Vose says, "often given litigation the distinct flavor of group combat."