The Judicial Research Initiative (JuRI)
at the University of South Carolina
U.S. Supreme Court Databases
Data for the U.S. Supreme Court, compiled by Harold J. Spaeth of Michigan State University, are available in several formats. Note, all files have been zipped to reduce download time. If you do not have a program (such as WinZip or PKZip) please click here to download free software. Additionally, some Mac users may require the program Stuff-It Expander to open the datasets. If you do not have this program, please click here. Finally, all documentation is provided in Adobe pdf format. To get a free version of Adobe Acrobat please click here.
The distinctive feature of each Supreme Court database is its vote data. This differentiates one dataset from the others. The common feature of all the databases is the inclusion of five sets of variables that bear on the vote and opinion data that the specific dataset contains: identification, background, chronological, substantive, and outcome. Each database has its own documentation (available from this website) which you are encouraged to download and thoroughly review. Each database also comes complete with variable labels and value codes (except for those variables with more than a dozen codes). All information is contained in the documentation. Whenever possible variables are recreated as dummies. Only a small number are not such (e.g. origin and source of cases, party and administrative agency information, legal provision at issue, natural court, etc.). Each database contains the date on which it was last updated.
Databases are available as SPSS, SAS, STATA, and EXCEL files.
To learn more about using the Spaeth Supreme Court datasets, please refer to the paper, "Becoming an Intelligent User of the Spaeth Databases," presented by Sara C. Benesh at the 2002 Southwestern Political Science Association Meeting.
The Original U.S. Supreme Court Judicial Database (nickname: ALLCOURT)
Thanks to the efforts of Lee Epstein (Northwestern University), Ted Ruger (University of Pennsylvania School of Law), Keith Whittington (Princeton University), Jeffrey Segal (Stonybrook University), and Andrew Martin (Washington University in St. Louis), the Original Supreme Court Database compiled by Harold J. Spaeth (Michigan State University) has been moved to its own website at http://supremecourtdatabase.org
The Vinson-Warren Court Database, 1946-1968 Terms (nickname: VINWAR)
Contains conference vote data, plus final vote data. The unit of analysis is the case (docket). The conference vote data were collected and compiled by Professor Jan Palmer of Ohio University.
Last updated: September 25, 2002
STATA file (formatted as a .dta file)
SPSS file (formatted as a SPSS portable file)
SAS file (formatted as a SAS transport file)
ASCII file (formatted as a fixed ASCII .dat file)
Documentation (in pdf format and updated September 25, 2002)
The Expanded Burger Court Database, 1969-1985 Terms (nickname: BURGER)
Contains conference vote data, plus final vote data and relisted case data. It also includes a random sample, stratified by term, of cases denied review. Lower court data for all accepted cases are included, as well as lower court data for the sample of denied petitions.
Last updated: December 21, 2006
STATA file (formatted as a .dta file)
SPSS file (formatted as a SPSS portable file)
SAS file (formatted as a SAS transport file)
ASCII file (formatted as a fixed ASCII .dat file)
Documentation (in pdf format and updated February 12, 2008)
The Justice-Centered Rehnquist Court Database, 1986-1998 Terms (nickname: REHNFLPD)
Contains information pertaining to individual justices and their votes during the Rehnquist Court, 1986-1998 terms. The unit of analysis is the individual justice. The transformation of the data from case-centered to justice-based was accomplished by Sara C. Benesh of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Last updated: June 24, 2003
STATA file (formatted as a .dta file)
SPSS file (formatted as a SPSS portable file)
SAS file (formatted as a SAS transport file)
ASCII file (formatted as a fixed ASCII .dat file)
Documentation (in pdf format and updated September 25, 2003)
The Justice-Centered Burger Court Database, 1969-1985 Terms (nickname: BURGFLPD)
Contains conference vote and final vote data. The unit of analysis is the individual justice. The transformation of the data from case-centered to justice-based was accomplished by Sara C. Benesh of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Last updated: April 7, 2003
STATA file (formatted as a .dta file)
SPSS file (formatted as a SPSS portable file)
SAS file (formatted as a SAS transport file)
ASCII file (formatted as a fixed ASCII .dat file)
Documentation (in pdf format and updated September 25, 2003)
The Justice-Centered Warren Court Database, 1953-1969 Terms (nickname: WARFLPD)
Contains conference vote and final vote data. The unit of analysis is the individual justice. The transformation of the data from case-centered to justice-based was accomplished by Sara C. Benesh of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Last updated: May 20, 2005
STATA file (formatted as a .dta file)
SPSS file (formatted as a SPSS portable file)
SAS file (formatted as a SAS transport file)
ASCII file (formatted as a fixed ASCII .dat file)
Documentation (in pdf format and updated September 25, 2003)