Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Vanderbilt Law Review
Publication Date
2017
ISSN
0042-2533
Page Number
2051
Keywords
politics and judicial decisionmaking, judges
Disciplines
Judges | Law
Abstract
In twenty-five different experiments conducted on over 2,200 judges, we assessed whether judges' political ideology influences their resolution of hypothetical cases. Generally, we found that the political ideology of the judge matters, but only very little. Across a range of bankruptcy, criminal, and civil cases, we found that the aggregate effect of political ideology is either nonexistent or amounts to roughly onequarter of a standard deviation. Overall, the results of our experiments suggest that judges are not "politicians in robes."
Recommended Citation
Chris Guthrie, Andrew J. Wistrich, and Jeffrey J. Rachlinski,
Judicial Politics and Decisionmaking: A New Approach, 70 Vanderbilt Law Review. 2051
(2017)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/712