Jurisprudence Meets Physics

Abstract

For many system level questions jurisprudential data has grown to a size and scale that no longer lends itself to traditional analytic techniques driven by human examination and direct analysis. While there will always be vast numbers of specific questions well within the capabilities of humans, an understanding of the system as a whole is no longer among them. Over the past several decades jurisprudence has begun to use mathematical and other analytic techniques many of which were developed in the physical sciences. It is now time for jurisprudence to embrace more fully the analytic tools of these other disciplines, specifically those coming out of physics, in order to continue to produce new insights to aid in the structure, function, design of judicial systems and the analysis of judicial dynamics.