CRIM 338 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Legal Realism, American Realism, Deductive Reasoning
Document Summary
If not law, there are other factors that influence judicial decision making: whatever the judge feels like during the case or their personal moral, economic, political insensibilities. Justice is what the judge ate for breakfast. Jerome frank: the way judge feels in any particular day can influence their decision way more, channelling their own political views and argue in retrospect and justify their decision in retrospect. Judges do have political views in canada but only in interviews and political talks but not as much as us. It is all the personality of the judges. Legal realism: group of jurists writing at the end of 19th century, american realists, holmes, llewellyn, frank. Legal realism as a rejection of legal formalism: treats law like math or science. Judges are not creating law and just interpreting and applying the laws: executive branch imposes the law.