Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
Legal doctrine is generally thought to contribute to legal decision making only to the extent it determines substantive results. Yet in many cases, the available authorities are indeterminate. I propose a different model for how doctrinal reasoning might contribute to judicial decisions. Drawing on performance theory and psychological studies of readers, I argue that judges’ engagement with formal legal doctrine might have self-disrupting effects like those performers experience when they adopt uncharacteristic behaviors. Such disruptive effects would not explain how judges ultimately select, or should select, legal results. But they might help legal decision makers to set aside subjective biases.
Recommended Citation
Jessie Allen,
Doctrinal Reasoning as a Disruptive Practice,
6
Journal of Law and Courts
215
(2018).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/fac_articles/436
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