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Paul M. Secunda

Selected Works

2011

Judges

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Cognitive Illiberalism And Debiasing Strategies, Paul Secunda Jul 2011

Cognitive Illiberalism And Debiasing Strategies, Paul Secunda

Paul M. Secunda

Legal realist scholars of a generation ago posited that judicial perception of facts reflect previously-held values and assumptions rather than record evidence. Yet crucially those scholars did not describe the psychological mechanism by which judges’ values come to shape facts. Understanding the psychological mechanism, culturally-motivated cognition, is a necessary first step to counteract the impact of cognitive illiberalism. Cognitive illiberalism results from the manner in which legal decisionmakers explain their decisions, and how those explanations are processed by “losers” in the politico-legal wars of our society. The phenomenon of cognitive illiberalism delegitimizes legal decisions and causes societal discontent with the …


Psychological Realism In Labor And Employment Law, Paul Secunda Mar 2011

Psychological Realism In Labor And Employment Law, Paul Secunda

Paul M. Secunda

Facts matter, especially in labor and employment law cases. But not in the way that labor scholars of a generation ago understood. Those scholars correctly posited that judicial perception of facts reflected previously-held values and assumptions rather than record evidence. Yet crucially, those scholars did not describe the psychological mechanism by which judges’ values came to shape facts in labor and employment law cases. Understanding the psychological mechanism by which judicial values shape legal decisions is a necessary first step to set up a framework to counteract the impact of cognitive illiberalism, a form of cognitive bias that impacts society …