Motivated reasoning in the field: polarization of prose, precedent, and policy in U.S. Circuit Courts, 1891–2013

TL;DR

This study shows that U.S. Circuit Court judges have become more politically polarized in their writing and legal reasoning over the past 120 years.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel use of natural language processing and machine learning to analyze judicial polarization in prose and citation practices.

Findings

Judges show increased polarization in the textual content of judicial opinions.

On divided panels and near midterm elections, judges exhibit increased dissent votes and reduced polarization in writing and citations.

Judges on the shortlist for Supreme Court vacancies show greater polarization in precedent selection.

Abstract

This study explores politically motivated reasoning among U.S. Circuit Court judges over the past 120 years, examining their writing style and use of previous case citations in judicial opinions. Employing natural language processing and supervised machine learning, we scrutinize how judges’ language choices and legal citations reflect partisan slant. Our findings reveal a consistent, albeit modest, polarization in citation practices. More notably, there is a significant increase in polarization within the textual content of opinions, indicating a stronger presence of motivated reasoning in their prose. We also examine the impact of heightened scrutiny on judicial reasoning. On divided panels and as midterm elections draw near, judges show an increase in dissent votes while decreasing in polarization in both writing and citation practices. Furthermore, our study explores polarization dynamics among judges who are potential candidates for Supreme Court promotion. We observe that judges on the shortlist for Supreme Court vacancies demonstrate greater polarization in their selection of precedents.“I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions ... The first thing you do is ask yourself — forget about the law — what is a sensible resolution of this dispute? ... See if a recent Supreme Court precedent or some other legal obstacle stood in the way of ruling in favor of that sensible resolution. ... When you have a Supreme Court case or something similar, they’re often extremely easy to get around.” (An Exit Interview with Richard Posner, The New York Times, Sep. 11, 2017).

“I pay very little attention to legal rules, statutes, constitutional provisions ... The first thing you do is ask yourself — forget about the law — what is a sensible resolution of this dispute? ... See if a recent Supreme Court precedent or some other legal obstacle stood in the way of ruling in favor of that sensible resolution. ... When you have a Supreme Court case or something similar, they’re often extremely easy to get around.” (An Exit Interview with Richard Posner, The New York Times, Sep. 11, 2017).

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