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Judicial Decisionmaking, Empathy, And The Limits Of Perception, Nicole E. Negowetti

Akron Law Review

This Article explores the effects of a judge’s prior assumptions, values, and experiences on judicial decisionmaking. In Part II, this Article will explore the cognitive science research regarding decisionmaking and implicit bias to reveal how each of us develops values, intuitions, and expectations below the level of our consciousness that powerfully affect both our perceptions and our judgments. Although there are many types of cognitive biases and heuristics involved in decisionmaking, for purposes of this Article, I focus on implicit biases towards various social groups. “[E]xplicit” biases are attitudes and stereotypes that are consciously accessible through introspection and endorsed as …