NCJ Number
116285
Journal
Judges' Journal Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1988) Pages: 23-25,63
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Effective judicial decisionmaking requires that judges analyze their own values and perceived wisdom and how these affect their decisions.
Abstract
Consequently the course 'Decisionmaking Process' makes participants focus on their own internal processes. The 2-week course emphasizes traditional approaches to legal decisionmaking -- mechanical, logical, historical, customary, and public policy -- but also seeks to train judges to make good decisions off the bench and in their interactions with defendants, victims, the media, and the public. Participants first examine their decisionmaking pretrial, during trial, and posttrial for jury and bench trials, in simple and complex cases, and in routine and complex legal matters. Next, participants are forced to examine the irrational, subconscious, environmental, sociological, and political factors influencing their decisionmaking. During the second week, the course examines how judges professionally integrate human and individual processes with their judicial decisions, administrative decisions, and relations with the community. Participants also are asked to evaluate conflicts between the judicial role and the judge as a person with impact on others, and to announce decisions in two or three high profile cases (e.g., child abuse, bio-ethics). Each participant makes a decision, analyzes factors contributing to the decision, announces the decision, and explains the objectives of the announcement and its form.