Peppers and co-authors honored by American Political Science Association

Roanoke College Professor Todd Peppers’ long-running scholarship on the federal judiciary has been recognized with an award honoring work that made an enduring impression on the field. 

Peppers was part of a team of co-authors bestowed with the "Lasting Contribution Award" by the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. The annual award is reserved for a journal article or book that was published at least a decade ago and withstood the test of time. 

This year’s title went to a 2001 treatise, "Picking Federal Judges: A Note on Policy and Partisan Selection Agendas,” penned by Emory University Professor Micheal W. Giles, Virginia A. Hettinger and Peppers. 

The piece, which appeared in "Political Research Quarterly,” has been cited nearly 600 times since its publication. In granting the award, the deliberating committee concurred with the assessment of political scientist Wendy Martinek, who noted in part:  

“Giles, Hettinger, and Peppers also made a key methodological innovation. In particular, they created a measure of ideology for all U.S. court of appeals judges that explicitly took into account the intersection of the preferences of presidents and senators with the norms governing the selection of judges. This was a major advance over the then-standard measure of ideology based on the party of the appointing president.” 

Peppers, who is Roanoke’s Henry H. & Trudye H. Fowler Professor in Public Affairs, was a graduate student at Emory when the piece was published. Giles was a valued mentor and conceived of the new measure detailed in the paper. 

The opportunity to be part of the project helped Peppers gain new insights that he continues to apply to his research and his classrooms today. 

"Working with Dr. Giles and fellow graduate student Virginia Hettinger [now a professor with the University of Connecticut] introduced me to the importance of involving your students in your research and writing,” said Peppers, who has gone on to author numerous books and papers. 

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Peppers' scholarship over the course of his career has dug into examinations of the U.S. Supreme Court, judicial institutions, civil liberties and the death penalty. In addition to teaching, he also serves as coordinator of the James C. and S. Maynard Turk Pre-Law Program at Roanoke. 

The American Political Science Association is one of the leading professional organizations for experts who study the world of political science. It encompasses more than 10,000 members across more than 100 countries.