ABSTRACT
Basic to the popular perception of the judicial process is the notion of government by law, not people. Law is depicted as separate from-and abovepolitics, economics, culture or the values or preferences of judges. This separation is supposedly accomplished and ensured by a number of perceived attributes of the decision-making process, including judicial subservience to a Constitution, statutes and precedent; the quasi-scientific, objective nature of legal analysis, and the technical expertise of judges and lawyers. Together, these attributes constitute a decision-making process in which (1) the law on a particular issue is pre-existing, clear, predictable and available to anyone with reasonable legal skills; (2) the facts relevant to disposition of a case are ascertained by objective hearing and evidentiary rules that reasonably ensure that the truth will emerge; (3) the result in a particular case is determined by a rather routine application of the law to the facts; and (4) except for the occasional bad judge, any reasonably competent and fair judge will reach the 'correct' decision.
