[saraid216]

> the unrealistic ideal that all judges would be guaranteed to be truly impartial.

Even this isn't necessarily a good thing. Part of the value of a judge is having an empathetic element in the position of final arbiter. Decisions aren't always "GUILTY / NOT GUILTY"; they're often long-form essays discussing the merits of the case, the factors under consideration, the logic and reasoning behind the ultimate conclusion and so on.

Math is nice because it can be reduced to a symbolic language. We're not at the point where we can reduce human beings to symbols yet.

[rtpg]

You can be empathetic to someone without being partial to them.

But your point still stands. The reasoning and specificity of cases are what define common law precedent.