How do courts decide cases? One answer holds that it is law, and only law, all the way down. There surely is plenty of law at play. Statutes, doctrines, precedents, interpretation, legal reasoning, etc., are central in resolving cases. But many think that there are other factors that influence judicial decision-making, in the Supreme Court and in other courts. Factors like judges’ ideologies, capabilities, biases, and past experiences; the specific cases that lawyers bring forth; the decision-making mechanisms judges operate in; or public opinion more generally.
In this seminar, we’ll explore the levers that influence judicial decision-making, and how lawyers can use those. Primary topics will include law’s limits in deciding cases, the importance of judges’ identities, the power of precedents, judges’ capabilities, the structure of decision-making in courts, judicial agenda-setting, and the relationship between judges and the general public, among others.
