The Strategic Designation of Visiting Judges in the U.S. Courts of Appeals

Abstract

Judges serving in the United States Courts of Appeals are theorized to pursue goals related to both the content of legal policy and the institutional maintenance of their court in the decision-making process. However, it is unclear how judges respond when these two goals are put into competition. To answer this question, I investigate the decision by circuit chief judges to designate district court judges for assignment in the courts of appeals. The analysis demonstrates that while circuit chiefs are more likely to use visitors when the working conditions of the courts of appeals are suboptimal, their selection from the pool of potential visitors is driven primarily by their ideological congruity with the potential visitor. This result suggests chief judges strategically manipulate the visiting judge process and that institutional goals structure the pursuit of policy preferences in the courts of appeals.