Dr.
Barclay's research interests are
in Law & Society, Law & Public
Policy, Lesbian and Gay Rights,
State Politics and Policy, and
Methodology. His long-term interests
are in the signals that individuals
receive in their interactions with
courts as well as the way that
courts respond to social forces.
He has examined this idea from
a number of perspectives and using
a variety of methodologies, including
case studies, qualitative interviews,
and complex statistical analysis.
His early work considered what
motivates individuals to mobilize
the law while similarly situated
counterparts do not. Using the
example of why individuals appeal
their loss in civil cases, he published
several articles on this topic
as well as a book, An Appealing
Act (Northwestern University Press
1999). He has extended these ideas
into the consideration of the nature
of legal consciousness and legal
mobilization in specific sites.
Recently, Scott has examined the issue of lesbian and gay rights, with special
emphasis on the political, legal, and social factors that influence the introduction
or rejection (by courts and legislatures) of same sex marriage into states. On
this latter project, he has worked with Anna-Maria Marshall to contextualize
the cause lawyers in the Vermont same sex marriage case; and with Shauna Fisher
to consider the political, demographic, and legal configuration that allowed
some states to introduce proscriptions on same sex marriage after the 1970s.
He is currently expanding upon these ideas as the same sex marriage legal debate
unfolds. In addition, he is considering the larger idea of the state and society
relations that lie within this debate.
Scott has published in Law and Social Inquiry, Law & Policy, Policy Studies
Journal,
Social Science Quarterly, Justice System Journal, and Judicature. He is currently the Book Review Editor of Law & Society Review and on the Editorial Board of SUNY Press.
