A Modest Proposal Redux

By Kevin E. Noonan — Motivation is an important factor in any policy-based decision. Understanding motivation — whether considering legislation, programs by administrative agencies, or judicial decisions — can go a long way towards creating strategies to support or counteract a policymaker's activities. The Supreme Court is not supposed to be a policy-making institution, but to deny the role of motivation in its decisions would be to miss the Justices' humanity. It is evident in many of the Court's recent patent eligibility decisions that, in addition to their concern that overbroad eligibility standards "would risk disproportionately tying up the use…Original Article