Protection Order Policy-making in the U.S. State Courts of Last Resort from 1980 to 2019

Abstract

This article examines the development of policy designed to target intimate partner violence, or domestic violence, through the use of protection orders in the U.S. state courts of last resort, or the state supreme courts, from 1980 to 2019. The authors’ study shows that the American state supreme courts are decidedly supportive of female protection order litigants throughout the period studied. The model also highlights the importance of state government ideology, percentage of female justices, and state laws that ban gender hiring discrimination on state supreme court decision-making in these cases.