The Penetration of Social Science into Legal Culture

Over the past 75 years, social science references in court decisions have changed from an anonymous footnote to an appendix to a brief ( Muller v. Oregon , 1908) to extensive discussion of social science methods and results to changing a rule of law based on social science propositions ( Hovey v. Superior Court , 1980). The acceptance of social science may be traced in state court decisions as well as in Supreme Court cases. The academic field of law has, since its entrance into the university, identified itself with the rhetoric, if not the model of science. Although earlier attempts to introduce social science into law were relatively unsuccessful, there is now a sufficient acceptance and a sufficient professional infrastructure to predict a growing influence of social science in law.     

The Role of Special Master in Institutional Reform Litigation: A Case Study

Wuori v Zitnay (1975), an institutional reform case, came to a successful resolution within a relatively few years. This case study describes the change process from the perspective of the special master and reports on devices used to sustain the changes after the court relinquished active supervision. The case study describes the functioning of masters in other cases to show the comparability of the processes. The special master undertakes change agent activities which are not in keeping with the model of a quasi-judicial role. The master preserves the court's legitimacy by providing a buffer which allows the court to maintain a neutral stance when implementation problems are brought to its attention.