In this paper, we present two different formal frameworks for representing decision making. In both frameworks, decisions have multiple attributes and meet different goals. In the second framework, decisions take into account preferences over goals. We also study a family of decision functions representing making decisions with different criteria, including decisions meeting all goals, most goa...

There are three elements in a plaintiff's prima facie case of individual disparate treatment discrimination: (1) the plaintiff suffered an adverse employment action, (2) the action was linked to the defendant, and (3) the defendant's action was motivated by a protected characteristic of the plaintiff. The third element-the defendant's intent to discriminate-is the most challenging to prove. Thu...

Existing studies of congressional influence on Supreme Court decision making have largely failed to recognize the fact that the Court has a discretionary docket. We model the effects of congressional preferences on the certiorari decision and find strong evidence that the Court’s constitutional agenda is systematically influenced by Congress. The Court’s docket is significantly less likely to c...

Extracts and compounds of natural products have potential as alternatives to current Western medicines. However, these products may not be patentable under the statutory requirements because of their naturally-occurring nature. This article analyzes the current patenting practices for natural products in the United States, particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Myriad, and ...

There are many views on how human decision makers behave. In this work, the Justices of the United States Supreme Court will be viewed in terms of constrained maximization and cognitivecybernetic theory. This paper will integrate research in such fields as law, political science, psychology, economics and decision making theory. It will be argued that due to its heavy workload, the Supreme Cour...

Despite the promises made after World War II to eliminate the commission of atrocities, crimes against humanity persist with horrifying ubiquity. Yet the absence of a consistent definition and uniform interpretation of crimes against humanity has made it difficult to establish the theory underlying such crimes and to prosecute them in particular cases. In the 1990s, several ad hoc international...

12 This year marks the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that provided constitutional protection for abortion. In its 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to decide, in consultation with her physician, whether to terminate a pregnancy. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the Hyde Amendment,...

This essay expands the empirical analysis of overruled Supreme Court decisions by focusing on citation network centrality measures and comparative depreciation analysis to compare overruled decisions to matched peers. We demonstrate that those decisions which go on to be overruled tend to occupy more central citation network positions, cite more central cases, and depreciate at a slower rate th...