Gregory Mitchell

Joseph Weintraub–Bank of America Distinguished Professor of Law

Biography
Publications
Courses
Media

Greg Mitchell joined the faculty in 2006 after visiting during the 2004-05 academic year. He teaches courses in civil litigation and law and psychology, and his scholarship focuses on legal judgment and decision-making, the psychology of justice, and the application of social science to legal theory and policy.

After receiving his law degree and doctorate in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, Mitchell clerked for Judge Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., in the Middle District of Tennessee, and then practiced civil litigation with the Nashville law firm of Doramus, Trauger & Ney. Prior to joining the Law School, Mitchell was an assistant professor at Michigan State, an associate professor and the Sheila M. McDevitt Professor of Law at Florida State, and a visiting associate professor at Vanderbilt.

Scholarship Profile: The Promise and Limitations of an Empirical Approach to Law (Virginia Journal 2008)

Education

J.D.
University of California at Berkeley School of Law
1993
Ph.D.
University of California at Berkeley
1994
M.A.
University of California at Berkeley
1990
B.A.
University of Arkansas
1988

Books and Book Chapters

“External Validity,” in Bruce B. Frey, ed., 2 The Sage Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation 654 (Sage Publications, 2018).

“Jumping to Conclusions: Advocacy and Application of Psychological Research,” in Jarret T. Crawford & Lee Jussim, eds., The Politics of Social Psychology 139 (Routledge, 2018).

“Popularity as a Poor Proxy for Utility: The Case of Implicit Prejudice” (with Philip E. Tetlock), in Scott O. Lilienfeld & Irwin D. Waldman, eds., Psychological Science under Scrutiny: Recent Challenges and Proposed Solutions 164 (Wiley Blackwell, 2017).

“Experimental Political Philosophy: Justice Judgments in the Hypothetical Society Paradigm” (with Philip E. Tetlock), in Jon A. Krosnick et al. eds., New Explorations in Political Psychology 47 (Routledge, 2017).

"The Price of Abstraction," in Joshua C. Teitelbaum & Kathryn Zeiler, eds., Research Handbook on Behavioral Law and Economics (2016).

American Courts Explained: A Detailed Introduction to the Legal Process Using Real Cases (with David Klein) (West Academic, 2016).

“Implicit Attitude Measures” (with Philip E. Tetlock), in Robert A. Scott & Stephen M. Kosslyn, eds., Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Wiley, 2015).

"Experimental Political Philosophy: Justice Judgments in the Hypothetical Society Paradigm" (with Philip E. Tetlock), Jon A. Krosnick & I‐Chant A. Chiang eds., New Explorations in Political Psychology (2012).

American Courts (with Daniel J. Meador) (West, 3d ed. 2009).

"Experimental Political Philosophy: Justice Judgments in the Hypothetical Society Paradigm" (with Philip E. Tetlock), in Jon A. Krosnick & I-Chant A. Chiang, eds.,Reasoning and Choice: Explorations in Political Psychology (Psychology Press, 2011).

The Psychology of Judicial Decision Making, (editor with David Klein) (Oxford U. Press, 2010).

"Cognitive Styles and Judging," in David Klein & Gregory Mitchell, eds., The Psychology of Judicial Decision Making 279 (Oxford U. Press, 2010).

"Evaluating Judges" in David Klein & Gregory Mitchell, eds., The Psychology of Judicial Decision Making 221 (Oxford U. Press, 2010).

"The Relation Between Consistency and Accuracy of Witness Testimony" (with Ronald Fisher & Neil Brewer) in Tom Williamson, Ray Bull & Tim Valentine, eds., Handbook of Psychology of Investigative Interviewing: Current Developments and Future Directions(Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).

"Disentangling Reasons and Rationalizations: Exploring Moral Intuitions in Hypothetical Societies" (with Philip E. Tetlock) in John Josh, A.C. Kay & H. Thorisdottir, eds., Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification 126 (2009).

"Liberal and Conservative Approaches to Justice: Conflicting Psychopolitical Portraits" (with Philip E. Tetlock), in Barbara Mellers & Jonathon Baron, eds., Psychological Perspectives on Justice 234 (1993).

Articles

"An Implicit Bias Primer," 25 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. (2018).
SSRN | HeinOnline (PDF)

“The Proficiency of Experts” (with Brandon L. Garrett), 166 U. Pa. L. Rev. 901 (2018).
SSRN | HeinOnline (PDF)

“Measuring Situational Bias or Creating Situational Bias?,” 28 Psychol. Inquiry 292 (2017).

“Libertarian Nudges,” 82 Mo. L. Rev. 695 (2017).
SSRN | HeinOnline (PDF)

"Forensics and Fallibility: Comparing the Views of Lawyers and Jurors" (with Brandon L. Garrett), 119 W.V. L. Rev. 100 (2016).
SSRN | HeinOnline (PDF)

"Infantilization by Regulation" (with Jonathan Klick), 39 Regulation 32-37 (2016).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"Toward a Meaningful Metric of Implicit Prejudice" (with others), 100 J. of App. Psych. 1468-1482 (2015).

"Predicting Ethnic and Racial Discrimination with the IAT: Small Effect Sizes of Unknown Societal Significance" (with others), 108 J. of Personality and Soc. Psych 562-571 (2015).

“Balancing Fairness and Efficiency: The Impact of Identity-Blind and Identity-Conscious Accountability on Applicant Screening” (with others), 10 PLoS ONE e0145208 (2015).

“Using the IAT to Predict Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: Small Effect Sizes of Unknown Societal Significance” (with others), 108 J. Personality & Soc. Psychol. 562 (2015).
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“Toward a Meaningful Metric of Implicit Prejudice” (with others), 100 J. Applied Psychol. 1468 (2015).
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“Why So Few Conservatives and Should We Care?” (with Philip E. Tetlock), 52 Society 28 (2015).

“Discovery and the Evidentiary Foundations of Implicit Bias” (with others), 40 Emp. Rel. L.J. 4 (2014); reprinted at 66 Lab. L.J. 49 (2015).
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“Alternative Behavioral Law and Economics,” in Eyal Zamir & Doron Teichman, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Behavioral Economics and the Law 167 (Oxford University Press, 2014).

"Detecting and Punishing Unconscious Bias" (with Philip E. Tetlock and L. Jason Anastasopoulos), 42 J. Legal Stud. 83 (2013).

"How Jurors Evaluate Fingerprint Evidence: The Relative Importance of Match Language, Method Information, and Error Acknowledgment" (with Brandon Garrett), 10 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 484 (2013).

"Predicting Ethnic and Racial Discrimination: A Meta Analysis of IAT Criterion Studies" (with others), 105 J. Personality & Soc. Psychol. 171 (2013).

"Effective Use and Presentation of Social Science Evidence" (with Allan G. King and Jeffrey S. Klein), 37 Employment Relations L.J. 3 (2012).

"The Importance of Replication in the Field," 25 The Psychologist 361 (2012).

"Revisiting Truth or Triviality: The External Validity of Research in the Psychological Laboratory," 7 Perspectives on Psychological Science 109 (2012).
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"Proactive Approaches to Second‐Generation Risks in Labor and Employment Cases" (with Mary R. Baker, Hunter D. Hughes III and Philip E. Tetlock), 37 Employment Relations L, J. 28 (2011).

"Reassessing the Predictive Validity of the IAT: II. Reanalysis of Heider & Skowronski (2007)" (with Hart Blanton), 13 North American J. of Psychology 99 (2011).

"Should It Be Easier to Get Married?" 2011 Mich. St. L. Rev. 217 (Symposium: E‐marriage).
HeinOnline (PDF)

"The ASA’s Missed Opportunity to Promote Sound Science in Court" (with John Monahan and Laurens Walker), 40 Sociological Meth. & Res. 605 (2011).
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"Case‐Specific Sociological Inference:Meta‐norms for Expert Opinions" (with John Monahan and Laurens Walker), 40 Sociological Meth. & Res. 668 (2011).
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"Beyond Context: Social Facts as Case‐Specific Evidence" (with John Monahan and Laurens Walker), 60 Emory L. J. 1109 (2011).
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"Situated Identities Constrain Morally-Defensible Choices" (with Philip E. Tetlock), 5Persp. on Psychol. Sci. 206 (2010).

"Good Causes and Bad Science," 63 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc 133 (2010).

"Good Scholarly Intentions Do Not Guarantee Good Policy," 95 Va. L. Rev. In Brief 109 (2010).

"Strong Claims and Weak Evidence: Reassessing the Predictive Value of the IAT" (with others), 94 J. Applied Psychol. 567 (2009).

"Transparency Should Trump Trust: Rejoinder to McConnell and Leibold (2009) and Ziegert and Hanges (2009)," (with others), 94 J. Applied Psychol. 598 (2009).

"Second Thoughts," 40 McGeorge L. Rev. 687 (2009).
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"Facts Do Matter: A Reply to Bagenstos" (with Philip E. Tetlock), Hofstra L. Rev.(forthcoming 2009).
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"The Limits of Social Framework Evidence" (with John Monahan and Laurens Walker), 8Law, Probability & Risk 307 (2009).

"Implicit Bias and Accountability Systems: What Must Organizations Do to Prevent Discrimination?" (with Philip E. Tetlock), 28 Research in Organizational Behavior (Barry Straw & Arthur Brief eds., 2009).

“A Renewed Appeal for Adversarial Collaboration” (with Philip E. Tetlock), 28 Res. Organizational Behav. 71 (2009).

"Adversarial Collaboration Aborted But Our Offer Still Stands," (with Philip E. Tetlock), 28Research in Organizational Behavior 77 (Barry Staw & Arthur Brief, eds., 2009).

"Law & Proximity," (with Adam J. Hirsch), 2008 U. of Ill. L. Rev. 557 (2008).
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"Contextual Evidence of Gender Discrimination: The Ascendance of 'Social Frameworks,'" (with John Monahan & Laurens Walker), 94 Va. L. Rev. (2008).
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"Calibrating Prejudice in Milliseconds" (with Philip E. Tetlock), 71 Soc. Psychol. Q. 12 (2008).

"The Challenge of Debiasing Personnel Decisions: Avoiding Both Under- and Over-Correction," (with Philip E. Tetlock and Terry L. Murray), 1 Indus. & Org. Psychol. 439 (2008).

"Antidiscrimination Law and the Perils of Mindreading" (with Philip E. Tetlock), 67 Ohio St. L.J. 1023 (2006).
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"An Empirical Inquiry into the Relation of Corrective Justice to Distributive Justice" (with Philip E. Tetlock), 3 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 421 (2006).
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"Government Regulation of Irrationality: Moral and Cognitive Hazards” (with Jonathan Klick), 90 Minn. L. Rev. (2006).
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"Libertarian Paternalism Is an Oxymoron,” 99 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1245 (2005).
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"Empirical Legal Scholarship as Scientific Dialogue,” 83 N.C. L. Rev. 167 (2005).
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"Beyond Fireside Inductions,” 32 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 315 (2005) (Symposium: The Behavioral Analysis of Legal Institutions).

"Asking the Right Questions About Judge and Jury Competence,” 32 Fla. S. U. L. Rev.519 (2005) (Symposium: The Behavioral Analysis of Legal Institutions).

"Case Studies, Counterfactuals, and Causal Explanations,” 152 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1517 (2004).
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"Tendencies Versus Boundaries: Levels of Generality in Behavioral Law and Economics," 56 Vand. L. Rev. 1781 (2003).

"Mapping Evidence Law," 2003 Mich. St. L. Rev. 1065 (Symposium: Visions of Rationality in Evidence Law).

"Experiments Behind the Veil: Structural Influences on Judgments of Social Justice" (with Philip E. Tetlock, Daniel G. Newman & Jennifer S. Lerner), 24 Pol. Psychol. 519 (2003).

"Why Law and Economics' Perfect Rationality Should Not Be Traded for Behavioral Law and Economics' Equal Incompetence," 91 Geo. L.J. 67 (2002).

"Taking Behavioralism Too Seriously? The Unwarranted Pessimism of the New Behavioral Analysis of Law," 43 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1907 (2002).

"Legitimacy and the Empowerment of Discretionary Legal Authority: Abortion and the United States Supreme Court" (with Tom R. Tyler), 43 Duke L.J. 703 (1994).

Comment, "Against 'Overwhelming' Appellate Activism: Constraining Harmless Error Review," 82 Cal. L. Rev. 1335 (1994).

"Judgments of Social Justice: Compromises Between Equality and Efficiency" (with Philip E. Tetlock, Barbara Mellers & Lisa Ordóñez), 65 J. Personality & Soc. Psychol. 629 (1993).

"Psychological Perspectives on Nuclear Deterrence" (with Philip E. Tetlock & Charles McGuire, Jr.), 42 Ann. Rev. Psychol. 239 (1991).

Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L.