Beyond Common Sense: A Social Psychological Study of Iqbal's Effect on Claims of Race Discrimination

Authors

Victor D. Quintanilla, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Abstract

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) once operated as a notice pleading rule, requiring plaintiffs to set forth only a "short and plain" statement of their claim. In Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, and then Ashcroft v. Iqbal, the United States Supreme Court recast Rule 8(a) into a plausibility pleading standard. To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter "to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Iqbal requires federal courts, when deciding whether a complaint is plausible, to draw on their "judicial experience and common sense." Courts apply this standard at the commencement of litigation, evaluating the plausibility of claims before discovery - before evidence has been gathered and presented. This highly subjective pleading standard applies to all claims, including claims of discrimination by members of stereotyped groups. In short, under Iqbal, federal courts must grapple at the inception of litigation with deciding whether members of stereotyped groups have pleaded plausible claims of discrimination, relying on their intuitions and common sense, rather than evidence. The nature of this new pleading standard raises pressing and profound questions about the psychology of judging: Might Iqbal rest on a flawed theory of judgment and decision making? Can judges draw on common sense, rather than evidence, to adjudicate claims of discrimination by members of stereotyped groups without the subtle effect of implicit bias? This Article sheds light on these questions by drawing on social psychological research. From findings in the field of social psychology, the Article first forms hypotheses and then conducts an empirical legal study that closely examines how federal courts have adjudicated motions to dismiss Black plaintiffs' claims of race discrimination.

Recommended Citation

Victor D. Quintanilla, Beyond Common Sense: A Social Psychological Study of Iqbal's Effect on Claims of Race Discrimination, 17 Mich. J. Race & L. 1 (2011).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol17/iss1/1