Automated Classification of Modes of Moral Reasoning in Judicial Decisions
Computational Legal Studies, Forthcoming
14 Pages Posted: 29 Jun 2018 Last revised: 26 Dec 2018
Date Written: July 2, 2018
Abstract
What modes of moral reasoning do judges employ? We construct a linear SVM classifier for moral reasoning mode trained on applied ethics articles written by consequentialists and deontologists. The model can classify a paragraph of text in held out data with over 90 percent accuracy. We then apply this classifier to a corpus of circuit court opinions. We show that the use of consequentialist reasoning has increased over time. We report rankings of relative use of reasoning modes by legal topic, by judge, and by judge law school.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Mainali, Nischal and Meier, Liam and Ash, Elliott and Chen, Daniel L., Automated Classification of Modes of Moral Reasoning in Judicial Decisions (July 2, 2018). Computational Legal Studies, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3205286 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3205286
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