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Court Watching’s Promise: A Preliminary Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2025

Grace Reinke Open the ORCID record for Grace Reinke [Opens in a new window]  and
Natalie Marx
Grace Reinke*
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans, USA
Natalie Marx
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans, USA
*
Corresponding author: Grace Reinke; Email: greinke@uno.edu
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Abstract

Contemporary political science research suggests historically low public faith in judicial institutions. However, modern years have seen a proliferation of “court-watching” groups that harness volunteer observation to increase accountability in the courts. While these trends may seem in conflict, this article suggests that, in the absence of faith in traditional judiciary systems, court watching acts as a decentralized, grassroots method of legal participation, allowing engagement in the American socio-legal system. We address this relatively under-analyzed area of legal activism by establishing an original dataset (n = 59) that tracked court watch groups as of 2024. Our dataset includes the mission, jurisdictional focus, and major accomplishments of each court-watching group, providing a useful starting point for the analysis of court watching as a growing area of legal socialization. We also establish a four-part definition of “court watching,” which builds on existing scholarship. We proceed with descriptive analysis of our database and findings, providing brief vignettes of well-established or unique court-watching groups and preliminary observations. Based on these preliminary findings, we assert that these volunteer organizations are well positioned to increase civic engagement and democratic faith in US legal proceedings among broad populations and thus deserve further attention from socio-legal scholars.

Keywords

courtsjusticelegal mobilizationactivismcivic engagementlegal consciousnessjudicial accountability

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Articles
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Law & Social Inquiry , First View , pp. 1 - 42
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Bar Foundation

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Footnotes

The authors acknowledge financial support from the American Political Science Association’s Growing Democracy grant program and the Tolmas Undergraduate Scholars program, which helped to make this research possible. This project has also benefited from collaboration with the staff of Court Watch New Orleans Louisiana (Court Watch NOLA) and was improved through helpful feedback from anonymous reviewers.

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