Judges’ need for peer approval shapes how they decide cases.

Evidence

According to Baum, judges are particularly likely to value the approval of their professional peers and of the social groups with which they associate, because their respect is so essential to the judges’ sense of themselves. Judges therefore have a strong incentive to decide cases in such a way as will attract their approval and avoid alienating them. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2645

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is the core mechanism of the ‘audience’ or ‘approval’ perspective on judging — Baum’s addition to the legal and political accounts.
• XREF: Connects to the legal realist claim that extralegal factors color judicial perception of law and facts.