Note that the summary is somewhat misleading. This is about the public perception of cases, not the likelihood that the SCOTUS will reach a particular decision.
The study also tries to imply that SCOTUS cares about the public perception of its decisions, and it probably does - but this isn't something they prove. Instead, the study deals with the sentiment across focus groups.
In school, I remember my professor all the time stating things like the court only reached this result, because the defendant was a minister and the government should never have tried such a case against such a specific defendant as they created their own bad case law.
Note that the summary is somewhat misleading. This is about the public perception of cases, not the likelihood that the SCOTUS will reach a particular decision.
The study also tries to imply that SCOTUS cares about the public perception of its decisions, and it probably does - but this isn't something they prove. Instead, the study deals with the sentiment across focus groups.
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