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The Supreme Court, Self-Persuasion, And Ideological Drift, Molly Wilson

Molly J. Walker Wilson

Whether one conceives of judicial attitudes as culturally derived, emotive values, or ideology-based policy positions, the work of behavioral law theorists, political scientists, and legal realists has amply documented the influence of personal beliefs on judicial decision-making. However, there is evidence for a previously unexplored possibility; the possibility that judges may be systematically more vulnerable to ideological extremes than those outside of the judiciary. There is reason to suspect that specific features of a jurist’s job may lead him or her inevitably toward a greater commitment to his or her own worldviews. In particular, the requirement that judges draft opinions …