The legal perspective holds law as the primary determinant of judicial decisions
Evidence
The legal perspective views judicial decision making as a process of reasoning based on legal principles and judicial precedents. These principles and precedents prescribe a particular outcome in many cases. Even when there is a realm of choice for the judge, law circumscribes the range of choice and guides its exercise. Thus, the law is the most important determinant of judicial decisions. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1360
This chapter has described three perspectives on judicial decision making. The legal perspective views judicial decision making as a process of reasoning based on legal principles and judicial precedents. These principles and precedents prescribe a particular outcome in many cases. Even when there is a realm of choice for the judge, law circumscribes the range of choice and guides its exercise. Thus, the law is the most important determinant of judicial decisions. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2646
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the ‘legal perspective’ as one of three competing scholarly accounts of how judges decide.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1360; G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2646
- XREF: connects to: Legal training and role orientation partially neutralize judges’ personal beliefs — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1366; Interpretive fidelity, not activism or restraint, is the key test of judicial legitimacy. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1495; Judicial decisions result from attitudes, role conceptions, and institutional constraints interacting together. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1286 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Judge attributes beyond the law shape judicial outcomes
#contradicts(0.85) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 746 - Legal realists hold judges’ attributes shape judicial outcomes
#contradicts(0.82) - Hidden value judgments, not logic, drive key judicial decisions
#contradicts(0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2550 - Justifying a legal system differs fundamentally from causally explaining it through politics or psychology
#qualifies(0.75) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 181 - Deductive legal reasoning requires identifying the controlling major premise.
#expands(0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 751 - Formalism is a central and distinctive feature of law
#corroborates(0.72) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 54