Terry A. Maroney
Robert S. and Theresa L. Reder Chair in Law, Professor of Law
Terry A. Maroney holds the Robert S. and Theresa L. Reder Chair in Law at Vanderbilt Law School, where she is a pioneering scholar in the field of law and emotion. Her research on the role of emotion in judicial behavior and decision-making has been widely read among the U.S. judiciary and has helped establish law and emotion as a recognized scholarly field. She clerked for Judge Amalya L. Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and teaches Criminal Law, Juvenile Justice, and a seminar on Actual Innocence. She is also affiliated with Vanderbilt's George Barrett Social Justice Program.
Teaching Style
Professor Maroney brings a distinctive interdisciplinary lens to criminal law, weaving psychology, sociology, and philosophy of emotion into doctrinal analysis. Her Socratic method is probing but empathetic, encouraging students to examine how emotions shape legal decision-making by judges, jurors, and lawyers. She cold-calls regularly and expects students to engage thoughtfully with the human dimensions of criminal law, including the experiences of defendants, victims, and those wrongfully convicted.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Think about the emotional dimensions of criminal law doctrines, including how concepts like provocation and self-defense implicitly rely on emotional judgments
- 2Be prepared to discuss the intersection of psychology and law, especially how cognitive biases affect criminal justice outcomes
- 3Know the facts of cases thoroughly, as Professor Maroney often asks students to consider how emotional context shaped legal outcomes
- 4Consider juvenile justice issues and how developmental psychology informs legal treatment of young offenders
Areas of Expertise
Education
- J.D., summa cum laude, New York University School of Law
- B.A., Oberlin College
Notable Publications
- Angry Judges (Vanderbilt Law Review)
- The Persistent Cultural Script of Judicial Dispassion
- Emotional Regulation and Judicial Behavior