Professor of Political Science and Director of the Florida Institute for Governance and Civics, Ryan Owens, Ph.D., recently published a book that explores the impact of cognitive aging on federal judges.
Dr. Owens co-authored Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts: How Senescence Influences the Law and Judges with Ryan C. Black, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and Patrick C. Wohlfarth, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park.
The book explores how federal judges’ behavior differs, how their opinions change with age, and the implications of cognitive aging on the judicial system. The authors find that older judges require more time to complete their opinions, use more cognitive shortcuts, simplify their decisions, and are more at risk of persuasion. The research has wide-reaching implications, as almost a third of federal judges are over 75 years old, and almost ten percent are over 80 years old.
“Recent advances in neuroscience show that cognitive aging leads to processing speed delays, a decline in executive functioning skills like reasoning and memory, and a greater reliance on cognitive shortcuts,” the authors write. Those same declines appear to occur among judges.
The findings are important because federal judges occupy such weighty positions. As the authors explain, “These judges interpret the Constitution, define people’s rights and liberties, and apply laws and regulations to myriad cases.” They argue that if judges’ effectiveness declines with age, the public ought to know about it and discuss how to address it.
Dr. Owens’s work with the Institute for Governance and Civics seeks “to combine technical expertise, theory, and practice to connect America’s core principles with contemporary American civic life.”
To learn more about FSU’s Department of Political Science, visit cosspp.fsu.edu/polisci.
For more information about FSU’s Institute for Governance and Civics, visit igc.fsu.edu.