We tend to assess the actions of others through the prism of our own interactions with them. Were they nice? Were they accommodating? Were they dismissive—did they refuse an autograph for your kid? Did they look at you as if you had four heads and, if so, did you deserve it? And when you have had the privilege of meeting, and speaking with, public figures, you are sometimes asked to make judgments about something newsworthy that they’ve done. In responding, you are likely influenced by how they acted with you in some unrelated situation.

Full disclosure: For a book I was writing at the time (“Blindfolds Off: Judges On How They Decide” (ABA Publ., 2014)), I interviewed Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. regarding his granting a motion to set aside the conviction of the long-serving and hugely popular Alaska Senator Ted Stevens amid extensive government misconduct committed during his corruption prosecution. Misconduct, to be clear, which took place in Judge Sullivan’s courtroom. Although initially hesitant, Judge Sullivan had been gracious to me in the extreme.

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