I focus on the establishment and maintenance of the rule of law, the tensions and interactions between international and domestic law, and determinants of judicial decision making in a variety of courts within American and comparative contexts.
Judicial Decision-making
- Statutory interpretation and separation of powers
- The role of the U.S. chief justice in court statutory interpretation
- How war and security concerns affect U.S. court decisions, particularly at the expense of civil liberties
- Whether judges’ gender conditions the effect of war on U.S. court decisions
Comparative Courts
- The establishment of judicial independence and its impact on democratization and economic development
- How shifting political environments can create new spaces for courts to take more proactive, rights-oriented approaches (Mexico)
- How gender diversity affects court decisions (Canada)
International Law and Courts
- The influence of inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organization (NGOs) on human rights practices and rights protections by domestic courts
- The influence of international and foreign law on the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. state high courts
- Why states grant regional human rights courts jurisdiction
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights jurisprudence and state compliance to court decisions
- Strategic decision-making and selection biases at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Indigenous Law
- How the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. state high courts evaluate indigenous rights claims
- How common law courts and federalist structures impact First Nations rights
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on indigenous rights and state compliance with court decisions in indigenous cases