1 Heydebrand and Seron surpass David Clark's statistical presentation, but Clark manages greater detail in his case classification scheme. See David S. Clark, “Adjudication to Administration: A Statistical Analysis of Federal District Courts in the Twentieth Century,” 55 S. Col L Rev. 65 (1981). Also cf. William Mclauchlan, Federal Court Caseloads (New York: Praeger, 1984); Richard Posner, The Federal Courts (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985).Google Scholar

2 Jerome Frank, Courts on Trial: Myth and Reality in American Justice (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1949) (“Frank, Courts on Trial”).Google Scholar

3 See, e.g., Jack W. Peltason, Fifty-Eight Lonely Men: Southern Federal Judges and School Desegregation (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1961); Phillip Cooper, Hard Judicial Choices (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988); Eva Rubin, Abortion, Politics and the Courts (New York; Greenwood Press, 1987); Lettie M. Wenner, The Environmental Decade in Court (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982); Malcolm M. Feeley, “The Significance of Prison Condition Cases: Budgets and Regions,” 23 Law & Soc'y Rev. 273 (1989).Google Scholar

4 See, e.g., Tinsley E. Yarbrough, Judge Frank Johnson and Human Rights in Alabama (University: University of Alabama Press, 1981); William C. Burris, Duty and the Law: Judge John J. Parker and the Constitution (Bessemer, Ala.: Colonial Press, 1987).Google Scholar

5 See, e.g., D. S. Clark, 55 S. Cal L. Rev. 65; Friedman, Lawrence & Percival, Robert, “A Tale of Two Courts: Litigation in Alameda and San Benito Counties,” 10 Law & Soc'y Rev. 267 (1976); Wayne McIntosh, The Appeal of Civil Law: A Political-economic Analysis of Litigation (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990).Google Scholar

6 Marc Galanter has submitted a cogent argument to contrary. See Galanter, Marc, “Why the ‘Haves’ Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change,” 9 Law & Soc'y Rev. 95 (1974). Also see Stuart A. Scheingold, The Politics of Rights (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1974).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 See, e.g., Stephen C. Halpern, On the Limits of the Law: A Political and Legal History of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, forthcoming);Google Scholar

8 Lawrence H. Tribe, Constitutional Choices 13 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985) (emphasis in original).Google Scholar

9 The variables are also changed from section to section, without clear rationale.Google Scholar

10 Pub. L. No. 99–177, 99 Stat. 1037.Google Scholar

11 Bowsher v. Synar, 478 U.S. 714 (1986). Also see Synar v. United States, 626 F. Supp. 1374 (D.D.C. 1986) (three-judge court), per curiam; Afge v. United States, 634 F. Supp. 336 (D.D.C. 1986) (three-judge court), per curiam.Google Scholar

12 See, e.g., United States v. Castle, 906 F.2d 134 (5th Cir. 1990) (cuts in U.S. Marshall Service prisoner transportation system); Nat'I Ass'n of Counties v. Baker, 842 F.2d 369 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (sequestration of federal revenue sharing funds); Nat'I Treasury Employees Union v. Reagan, 832 F.2d 1259 (Fed. Cir. 1987) (cancellation of annual cost-of-living adjustments in civil service retirement program); Armster v. U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, 806 F.2d 1347 (9th Cir. 1986) (temporary moratorium on civil jury trials in federal district courts); AFSCME Local 2477 v. Billington, 740 F. Supp 1 (D.C. 1990) (Library of Congress layoffs and service reductions); Stott v. Martin, 725 F. Supp. 1365 (E.D.N.C. 1989) (state agency employee layoffs); Vietnam Veterans of America v. U.S. Veterans Administration, 675 F. Supp. 999 (Md. 1987) (reduction of veterans' benefits); Lukatis v. Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Part B, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4226 (S.D.N.Y. 1987) (reduction in medicare coverage).Google Scholar

Some litigation was brought before state courts as well. See, e.g., New Jersey Hosp. Ass'n v. New Jersey State Dep't of Health, 227 N.J. Super. 557, 548 A.2d 211 (Superior Ct. N.J., App. Div. 1988) (setting of hospital rates); Fondessy Enterprises v. City of Oregon, 23 Ohio St.3d 213, 492 N.E.2d 797 (S. Ct. Ohio 1986) (hazardous waste disposal).Google Scholar

I have listed here only a scattering of those cases that actually resulted in publication. There were many more, and there were lots of references to cases never published. If we were able to calculate the cost of all this litigation, the dollar amount would no doubt be staggering, and it is not at all clear how much money was actually saved by the Gramm-Rudman budget reductions.Google Scholar

13 The advice came in the form of a memorandum sent to all U.S. district judges from L. Ralph Mecham, Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The 12 June 1986 memorandum is reprinted in full in Armster v. U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 792 F.2d 1423, at 1429-30 (9th Cir. 1986); Rolerson v. U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, 806 F.2d 1347 (9th Cir. 1986) (app. 1).Google Scholar

14 Armster, 792 F.2d, at 1429–30 (9th Cir. 1986).Google Scholar

15 See Heydebrand, Wolf, “The Context of Public Bureaucracies: An Organizational Analysis of Federal District Courts,” 11 Law & Soc'y Rev. 759 (1977).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

16 Without raising any doubts about what Heydebrand and Seron have done in this project, I am reminded of one of John Sprague's key methodological lessons—that is: “one should take care not to allow the statistical tail to wag the theoretical dog.”Google Scholar

17 For a good counterargument, see, e.g., Eisenberg, Melvin A., “Private Ordering through Negotiations,” 89 Harv. L Rev. 637 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18 No. 91-7328, slip op. at 12 (1993).Google Scholar

19 Id. at 12.Google Scholar

20 Id. at 8. Although the petitioner was seeking habeas corpus review of his conviction in state court, the reasoning of the majority here would also apply to federal court trials.Google Scholar

21 This is a variation on a theme from a Daniel Pinkwater book for children. The main character, Roger, had trouble controlling his umbrella until he learned that “An umbrella is an umbrella. They're are all the same.” Daniel M. Pinkwater, Roger's Umbrella (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1982) (unpaged).Google Scholar

22 John Langbein presents some evidence of what justice was like in the good old days. See John H. Langbein, “The Criminal Trial before the Lawyers,” 45 Univ. Chi. L. Rev. 263 (1978). Moreover, Milt Heumann argues that plea bargaining is as old as the court system and that it has always been the preferred method of criminal case disposition. See Milton Heumann, Plea Bargaining: The Experiences of Prosecutors, Judges and Defense Attorneys (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978). Also see, e.g., Lawrence M. Friedman & Robert V. Percival, The Roots of Justice: Crime and Punishment in Alameda County, California, 1870-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1981).Google Scholar

23 See, e.g., Morton J. Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1977).Google Scholar

24 See, e.g., Jethro Lieberman, The Litigious Society (New York: Basic Books, 1981).Google Scholar

25 See, e.g., Atleson, James B., “The Legal Community and the Transformation of Disputes: The Settlement of Injunction Actions,” 23 Law & Soc'y Rev. 41 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26 See, e.g., Galanter, Marc, “Words of Deals: Using Negotiation to Teach about Legal Process,” 34 J. of Legal Educ. 268 (1984)Google Scholar

27 Probably McDonald's Corporation has deployed the most concerted effort to alter the language for commercial purposes. Indeed, U.S. District Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, writing in 1988, noted:Google Scholar

In 1977, McDonald's began advertising a fanciful language called “McLanguage” that featured the formulation of words by combining the “Mc” prefix with a variety of nouns and adjectives. In television advertising viewed by the Court, Ronald McDonald is shown teaching children how to formulate “Mc” words, and he used words such as McService, McPrice, McFries and McBest.Google Scholar

In a consistent vein McDonald's has coined “Mc” words for many of its products and Services. McChicken, Chicken McNuggets, Egg McMuffin or Sausage McMuffin, McD.L.T., McHappy Day, McFortune Cookie, McFeast, McCoIa, McPizza, McSnack are but some of the many. It has obtained trademark registrations for all of these.Google Scholar

McDonald's marks are not limited to the fast food area, and it has obtained registrations for the use of marks in other areas as well. In the areas of children's clothing, it owns McKids; in interstate travel plazas, McStop; in job programs, Mcjobs; in computer software, McClass; in ground shuttle transportation, McShuttle. It calls its own hotel at its home offices in Oak Brook, Illinois, McLodge. QUALITY INNS INTERNATIONAL, INC. v. MCDONALD'S CORPORATION, 695 F. Supp. 198, at 203 (D.C. Md. 1988). For further discussion of “McLanguage,” see id. at 212.Google Scholar

Use of the prefix “Mc” with a generic word, however, has spun out of the originator's control, and McDonald's has engaged in an ongoing policing effort to protect its service mark against Mclnterlopers. The issue faced by Judge Niemeyer was whether Quality Inns could open a chain of economy motels under the logo “McSleep Inn.” While denying that the hamburger chain held undisputed claim to the language, Judge Niemeyer, like others before him, found in McDonald's favor. Also see, e.g., McDonald's Corp. v. McBagel's, Inc., 649 F. Supp. 1268 (S.D.N.Y. 1986).Google Scholar

28 Carter v. Ingalls, 576 F. Supp. 834 (S.D. Ga. 1983).Google Scholar

29 Id. at 835.Google Scholar

30 Id. at n.l.Google Scholar

31 See, e.g., Jerold Auerbach, Justice without Law: Resolving Disputes without Lawyers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Richard L. Abel, ed., The Politics of Informal Justice (New York: Academic Press, 1982).Google Scholar

32 Not the least of which was Jerome Frank, who served for a number of years as a U.S. district judge. See Frank, Courts on Trial (cited in note 2).Google Scholar

33 See Ronald Dworkin, Law's Empire (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986).Google Scholar