Lu, Wei and Chen, Daniel L. (2025) Motivated reasoning in the field: polarization of prose, precedent, and policy in U.S. Circuit Courts, 1891–2013. Plos One, vol.20(3).

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Identification Number : 10.1371/journal.pone.0318790

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 learn- ing, 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 opin-ions, indicating a stronger presence of motivated reasoning in their prose. We also exam-ine 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 decreas-ing 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

Item Type: Article
Language: English
Date: 3 March 2025
Refereed: Yes
Place of Publication: San Francisco
Subjects: B- ECONOMIE ET FINANCE
Divisions: TSE-R (Toulouse)
Site: UT1
Date Deposited: 31 Mar 2025 09:42
Last Modified: 31 Mar 2025 09:47
OAI Identifier: oai:tse-fr.eu:130469
URI: https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/50720
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