Cognitive aging and the federal circuit courts : how senescence influences the law and judges / Ryan C. Black, Ryan J. Owens, Patrick C. Wohlfarth.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Black, Ryan C., 1982- editor.

Owens, Ryan J., 1976- editor.

Wohlfarth, Patrick C., editor.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit).

United States.

Judges--United States--Psychology.

Judges.

Judicial process--United States.

Judicial process.

Cognition--Age factors.

Cognition.

Aging--Physiological aspects.

Aging.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (265 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2024]

Summary:

In 'Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts', a distinguished team of authors investigates how cognitive aging influences federal circuit court judges. The first-of-their-kind results show that as judges age, they require more time to craft their opinions; they rely more on cognitive shortcuts; their opinions become less complex; they increasingly rely on others to help them write opinions; and their legal influence on panels wanes just as their susceptibility to persuasion increases. These results are sure to transform broad debates about institutional reform.

Contents:

Cover

Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts: How Senescence Influences the Law and Judges

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 What Is Cognitive Aging?

1.2 Plan for the Book

2 The Neuroscience behind Cognitive Aging

2.1 Cognition and Cognitive Domains

2.2 The Effects of Aging on Cognition

2.3 The Causes of Cognitive Decline

2.4 Conclusion

3 How Cognitive Aging Applies to Judges

3.1 How Circuit Courts and Circuit Court Judges Operate

3.2 Cognitive Aging and Delays

3.3 Cognitive Aging and Heuristics

3.4 Cognitive Aging, Law Clerks, and Briefs

3.5 Cognitive Aging and Decreased Legal Influence

3.6 Conclusion

4 Opinion Crafting and Cognitive Aging

4.1 Opinion Writing, Timing, and Shortcuts

4.2 Data and Measures

4.3 Delays and Opinion Writing

4.4 The Decision to Bargain

4.5 Rejecting Colleagues

4.6 Conclusion

4.7 Appendix

4.7.1 Time to Initial Circulation Sensitivity Analysis

4.7.2 Responsive Accommodation and Total Opinion-Writing Time

5 Opinion Style: Co-authored with Alexander M. Tahk¹

5.1 Opinion-Writing Process

5.2 Cognitive Aging and Opinion Writing

5.3 Data and Measures

5.3.1 Dependent Variables

5.3.2 Independent Variables

5.4 Methods and Results

5.5 Conclusion

5.6 Appendix

5.6.1 Measuring Reverses Lower Court

5.6.2 Differences between Bivariate and Multivariate Results

5.6.3 Measuring Judicial Ideology: Judicial CommonSpace Robustness

5.6.4 Interquartile Range Robustness

6 Cognitive Aging, Law Clerks, and Party Briefs

6.1 Opinion Writing, Law Clerks, and Party Briefs

6.2 Law Clerks: Data and Measures

6.3 Law Clerks: Methods and Results

6.4 Briefs: Data and Measures

6.5 Briefs: Methods and Results

6.6 Conclusion

6.7 Appendix

6.7.1 Function Words.

6.7.2 Function Word Variability Formula

6.7.3 Statistical Significance and Variability

6.7.4 Senior Status and Variability

6.7.5 Age Window Length Selection

6.7.6 Alternative Presentation of Decade Window Results

6.7.7 CopyFind Parameter Values

6.7.8 Who Dunnit? Clerks as Opinion Drafters and Plagiarizers

7 Aging, Opinion Quality, and the Diffusion of Precedent

7.1 The Broader Importance of Opinion Quality

7.2 Data and Measures

7.3 Methods and Results

7.3.1 Citations

7.3.2 Positive, Neutral, and Negative Citations

7.4 Conclusion

7.5 Appendix

7.5.1 Pre-Processing by Matching on Binding Precedent

7.5.2 Ideological Distance, Precedent Author Age, and Binding Precedent

7.5.3 Interactive Model Results

8 Cognitive Aging and Following Supreme Court Precedent

8.1 Lower Court Treatment of Upper Court Precedent

8.2 Data and Measures

8.3 Methods and Results

8.4 Conclusion

9 Cognitive Aging and Panel Composition

9.1 The Effects of Panel Composition

9.2 Cognitive Aging and Panel Composition

9.3 Case-Level Data and Measures

9.4 Case-Level Methods and Results

9.5 Individual-Level Data and Measures

9.6 Individual-Level Methods and Results

9.7 Conclusion

9.8 Appendix

9.8.1 Predicted Probabilities

10 Public Attitudes toward Aged Judges

10.1 The Public and an Aging Judiciary

10.2 Empirical Expectations and Survey Experiment

10.3 Methods and Results

10.3.1 Judge Age Results

10.3.2 Photographic Accentuation Results

10.3.3 Policy Agreement Results

10.4 Conclusion

10.5 Appendix

10.5.1 Experimental Materials

10.5.2 Model Parameter Estimates

10.5.3 Judge Age Manipulation Checks

10.5.4 Control Variable Results

11 Public Support for Judicial Reforms

11.1 The Survey Experiment

11.2 Methods and Results.

11.2.1 Partisan Cues and Initial Support for Reform

11.2.2 Strength of Support

11.2.3 Comparing Arguments For and Against Reform

11.2.4 Malleability of Reform Attitudes

11.3 Conclusion

11.4 Appendix

12 Conclusion

12.1 The Purposes of Judicial Independence and Lifetime Tenure

12.2 Previous Reforms to Address Aging Judges

12.3 Possible Future Reforms

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on August 26, 2024).

ISBN:

9780197747056

0197747051

9780197747032

0197747035

9780197747049

0197747043

OCLC:

1437889757