Christina L. Boyd -

Christina L. Boyd

Associate Professor of Political Science

Christina L. Boyd is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science. Her current research focuses on the quantitative examination of judges and litigants in federal courts.

Education

Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis 2009, Political Science
A.M., Washington University in St. Louis 2006, Political Science
J.D., Wake Forest University 2004, Law
B.A., University of Florida 2001, Political Science

More About

Dr. Boyd’s work includes projects finding that female judges in U.S. courts of appeals and federal district courts influence the voting behavior of and manage cases differently from their male colleagues. In addition, her research on federal trial courts reveals new insight into the way that civil litigants craft their lawsuits and how they use courts to help them settle their disputes prior to trial. Professor Boyd’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and has appeared in leading political science and law journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Northwestern University Law Review, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, and American Politics Research. Professor Boyd’s research has been discussed in media outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and National Public Radio.

Christina joined the department in 2013. Prior to working at UGA, Professor Boyd was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where she was the recipient of the Lisa Hertel Memorial Political Science Teaching Award for 2012-2013. She received her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009, her J.D. from Wake Forest University in 2004, and her B.A. from the University of Florida in 2001.

Areas of Expertise

Judges and judicial politics
Law and politics
Empirical legal studies
Trial courts
Litigation
Settlement
U.S. Supreme Court
Gender and judging
Administrative law

Honors, Awards, and Achievements

Lisa Hertel Memorial Political Science Teaching Award, University at Buffalo, SUNY, 2012-2013.

2008 Pi Sigma Alpha Award for the best paper delivered at the 2007 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association for “Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging.”

Association of Women Faculty of Washington University 2007-2008 Graduate Student Award

Antoinette Dames Prize for Outstanding Graduate Level Class Paper, 2008. Department of Political Science, Washington University.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Honorable Mention (2006)

Course Instruction

Selected Publications

See www.cLboyd.net for updated details on publications

“The Hierarchical Influence of Courts of Appeals on District Courts.” 2015. Journal of Legal Studies.
“Revisiting the Influence of Law Clerks on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Agenda-Setting Process.” 2015. Marquette Law Review. (with Ryan C. Black and Amanda Bryan)
“Opinion Writing in the Federal District Courts.” 2015. Justice System Journal.
“Unaccountable Justice? The Decision Making of Magistrate Judges in the Federal District Courts.” 2013. Justice System Journal. 34(3): 249-273 (with Jacqueline Sievert).
“She’ll Settle It?” 2013. Journal of Law and Courts 1(2): 193-219.
“The Politics of Adjudicatory Oversight in Executive Branch Agencies.” 2013. American Politics Research. 41(4): 569-598 (with Amanda Driscoll).
“Litigating Toward Settlement.” 2013. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization. 29(4): 898-929 (with David A. Hoffman).
“Selecting the Select Few: The Discuss List and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Agenda-Setting Process.” 2013. Social Science Quarterly 94(4): 1124-1144 (with Ryan C. Black).
“Building a Taxonomy of Litigation: Clusters of Causes of Action in Federal Civil Complaints.” 2013. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 10(1): 253-287 (with David A. Hoffman, Zoran Obradovic, and Kosta Ristovski).
“The Role of Law Clerks in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Agenda-Setting Process.” 2012. American Politics Research 40: 147-173 (with Ryan C. Black).
“US Supreme Court Agenda Setting and the Role of Litigant Status.” 2012. Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization. 28(2): 286-312 (with Ryan C. Black).
“Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging.” 2010. American Journal of Political Science. 54(2): 389-411 (with Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin).
“Disputing Limited Liability.” 2010. Northwestern University Law Review. 104(3): 853-916 (with David A. Hoffman).
“An Examination of Strategic Anticipation of Appellate Court Preferences by Federal District Court Judges.” 2009. Washington University Journal of Law and Policy. 29: 37-80 (with James F. Spriggs).
“Studying District Court Decision Making.” 2009. Washington University Journal of Law and Policy. 29: 83-112 (with Pauline Kim, Margo Schlanger, and Andrew D. Martin).
“The Court(s) and the Election.” 2008. Miller-McCune Magazine. 1(5) (with Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin).
“On the Effective Communication of the Results of Empirical Studies, Part II.” 2007. Vanderbilt Law Review. 60: 798-846 (with Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin).

Grants

National Science Foundation Grant SES-1626932. Principal Investigator. “How Social Security Administration Appeals Fare in the Federal Trial Courts.” Law and Social Sciences and Science of Organizations Programs. 2016-2019. (Co-Principal Investigators Scott H. Ainsworth and Michael S. Lynch).

Faculty Research Grant in the Sciences. “Policy Making in the Federal District Courts.” University of Georgia Research Foundation.

Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, Annual Research Grant, University at Buffalo, SUNY. 2012-2013; 2011-2012; 2010-2011; 2009-2010.

National Science Foundation Grant SES-0818751. “Doctoral Dissertation Research: Placing Federal District Courts in the Judicial Hierarchy.” 2008.