A Judge’s Decision Has Potential Bias Due To Crime
Introduction
A Clemson University Student named Erin Brophy did an experiment to see if there was potential bias in a legal case depending on the crime. She did this after hearing about an experiment performed by Dr. Ben Stephens and Dr. Spurgeon Cole. They wanted to know if a prior association between a lawyer and a judge had potential judicial bias. Erin Brophy found that there is no difference in crime whether a judge will be biased. She surveyed people to see what their opinion was. The two crimes in her study were burglary and murder (Brophy). Because there was no difference in her experiment, we wanted to make the differences in the crimes more extreme. We wanted to find whether there is a difference between shoplifting and murder. We predicted that there will be more bias for the lawyer in the murder case and that the judge should be removed.
Methods
We gave the survey to 160 people for this experiment. There were 16 experiments and each experiment collected 10 surveys, five with the crime being shoplifting and the other half being murder. There was a lot of variability in selection methods. One example was selecting friends to take the survey. The participants included both male and females. The final sample size was 120 people. 64% were females and 36% were males. The age range of the participants was 17 to 25. The mean age was 19.69.
Materials
A survey was given to the participants to see if the judge would be bias for or against the attorney, and if he should be removed from the case. The survey asked the person’s gender and age. The next two questions asked if there was potential bias for and against the attorney. The last question asked if the judge should be excused from the case. The type of crime had two different versions. On half of the surveys, the crime was shoplifting and the other half was murder. The measurement of the bias from the questions was by circling “yes” or “no.
Before Andrew Jackson became president, he had a rough life. His parents died when he was young so he grew up without guidance. Jackson was in all the fights he could pick and to many, a wild child. By age 17, he calmed down and began planning his life. It wasn’t until after he had enrolled in the war of 1813 and showed great leadership and strength, that he was in the spot for presidency. (BG Essay) Many people believe in a Democratic nation. Not everyone follows one though. In a democratic nation, the voices of the people are heard. The leader(s) listen and make changes the people want done. Throughout Andrew Jackson’s time in office, he showed his country many undemocratic actions. He made some great changes and some not so great friendships. How democratic was Andrew Jackson? In the eyes of some, Jackson was not democratic. In many of his actions, he is shown to take one side of two things and do anything to make sure that side
Andrew Jackson was a man that people see that he is a good person and others say he is a terrible person. Andrew Jackson can be bad person and a good person it depends what type of person is Andrew Jackson is he going to help out the world or is he going to mess up the world? Democracy is a form of government were the people have a right to assist in the law making process. If Jackson didn’t support the people and wasn’t in the government the bank and the people would be in a huge mess. Andrew Jackson was very democratic and there are political , economic and geographic ways to prove it.
Kassin, Saul, and Lawrence Wrightsman (Eds.). The Psychology of Evidence and Trial Procedure. Chapter 3. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1985. Print.
Therefore, Andrew Jackson, in summary, was very democratic in the way which he transformed American politics, advanced social equality, and served to protect the people. Andrew Jackson shouldn’t have been recognized as a “dictator” or “king”, to the contrary, he should’ve been exalted and praised as the true “people’s king” spreading pure democracy throughout America.
Andrew Jackson began a whole new era in American history. Amongst his greatest accomplishments were evoking the "common man" to be interested in government and tailoring democracy to satisfy the same "common man's" needs. Of course, Jackson could not go about making such radical changes without supporters, but that never surfaced as a problem. Jacksonian Democrats, as they came to be called, were great in number during the 1820's and 1830's. They advocated all of the issues that President Jackson did, and did so with great vigor. They thought of themselves very highly because they recognized their responsibilities as American citizens. They realized that as political leaders they had a true purpose- to protect and serve the American people. The Jacksonians justified their view of themselves in their sincere attempts to guard the United States Constitution by both promoting equality of economic opportunity and increasing political democracy, but they had their downfalls with issues of individual liberties.
The British North America Act went into effect July 1st, 1867 creating a union known as the Dominion of Canada, but this did not complete the debate on the Confederation issue. Many Nova Scotians continued their opposition to the idea and it would take considerable time before all Nova Scotians would accept the fact of Confederation. “These Nova Scotians, disgruntled at their treatment by Great Britain, found that their loyalty had markedly diminished. The more they considered taking over the responsibility for their own affairs from England, however, the greater trust they had to place in Confederation.”25 Confederation struck a balance between the rights of English and French speaking Canadians. Nevertheless, many divisions, conflicts, and debates would occur not only in Quebec but also in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick over this balance. Economic disparities between the Maritimes and the rest of Canada would also create many problems for the years following 1867. As a result, Confederation can be viewed as a beginning and not an end.
Jurors opinions can be influenced by an emotional testimony. Deborah W. Denno’s article Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, and the Criminal Justice System is the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law’s publication of a panel at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The panel had three goals: “examine the interrelationship between neuroscience and substantive criminal law; to incorporate criminal procedure more directly into the examination in a way that past investigations have not done; and to scrutinize cognitive bias in decision-making,” (Denno
One of the main factors in wrongful convictions, tunnel vision, has been recognized by psychologist as a human tendency to quickly convict a suspect so that society feels safe. Although tunnel vision is seen as a natural instinct it can convict innocent individuals and weaken the criminal justice system . Jerome Frank, a judge in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals explored the causes of wrongful convictions and noted that in 36 cases tunnel vision was a significant factor in the conviction of innocent individuals. As demonstrated, tunnel vision is a prevalent factor and may affect cases resulting in judges and juries convicting wrong suspects. However, the human tendency towards tunnel vision is a distinctive feature of an individuals psychological characteristics. Psychologist view tunnel vision as the product of cognitive biases. These natural biases explain why tunnel vision is common even amongst respected legal enforcers and honest justice systems. Although tunnel vision is a common natural tendency, it can be altered and lead to the conviction of innocent individuals.In situations when a high profile case is
Andrew Jackson is one of the most controversial presidents. Many regard him as a war hero, the father of the Democratic Party, an inspiring leader, and a spokesman for the common man. While there is plenty to praise about the seventh president, his legacy is tarnished by his racism, disregard for the law of the land, cruelty towards the Native Americans, and ruthless temper. Jackson was an intriguing man who was multi-faceted. One must not look at a singular dimension, and cast judgment on him as a whole. To accurately evaluate one of the most complex presidents, it is crucial to observe Jackson from all possible angles. Prior lifestyle, hardships in life, political ideology, lifestyle of the time, political developments, and his character
Pennington, N., & Hastie, R. (1981). Juror decision-making models: The generalization gap. Psychological Bulletin, 89 (2), 246-287.
In a well-known study conducted by Judge Donald Shelton, jurors were asked various questions to see if there was a significant difference in the rate of acquittals between those who watched shows such as CSI and those who do not. Attorneys, judges, and journalists have claimed that watching television programs like CSI have caused jurors to wrongfully acquit guilty defendants when no scientific evidence has been presented. To test this, 1,027 jurors were randomly selected and given a questionnaire to fill out. Questions about their demographics were listed and the jurors were asked what kind of TV shows they watched, how often, and how real they believed these shows were. The survey asked questons about seven ty...
All hail King Andrew Jackson. In the election of 1824, presidential candidate Andrew Jackson had lost to John Quincy Adams, son of former president John Adams, in a brutal campaign war. Jackson sought revenge and did everything to sabotage Adams term as president, including branding his presidency the “corrupt bargain”, and giving his wife so much grief that she died. When Jackson finally became president and defeated Adams in 1828 his mantra was that the voice of the People must be heard, however many felt that he did not live up to his mantra. This raises the question: How democratic was Andrew Jackson? The term democratic can be defined as a government ruled by the people. Andrew Jackson was not democratic because of his mistreatment of the Native Americans, the decision of the bank, and his abuse of power.
The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 brought a new wave of political ideas, especially since he created the Democratic party and their symbol. Jacksonian Democrats saw themselves as guardians of the Constitution, political democracy and individual liberty (aka social freedoms). I believe that this was not the case for the decisions made in Jackson’s presidency, and he was more of a “King Andrew” than a man of the common people.
The beginning of 1763 marked one of the major events that would contribute to the end of British colonial relations. On February 3, 1763 the French and Indian War finally ended in British victory, but while the British celebrated the French’s defeat, colonists feared the oncoming reverberations the war would have on them. The main motive behind the war was for possession over the French fur trade territory in North America. To the colonists, the war was being fought by and for Britain not the colonies. The benefits of the victory only pertained to Britain. The after effect of the war for the colonies was the trampling on their need for expansion. During the war, Native Americans had fought with the French because of how well they treated them. Britain was notorious for abusing the Native Americans, therefore once the French were defeated; they began attacking western settlements of colonists. To avoid confrontation, the Proclamation of 1763 was passed by Parliament. The Proclamation established a limit to the greatly needed colonial expansion. Specifically, the Proclamation forbid settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The passing of the Proclamation of 1763 infuriated colonists ...
In the united states recent studies and older research has shown us the true crime of our metropolitan cities across the nation. In the united states violent crimes seem to occur every 25.3 seconds as today. The rate of crime varies in gender, age and race throughout the nation and throughout the states that legalized abortion. There was a decrease of crime fell in a few states due to their legalization of abortion even before Roe v. Wade. In the united states there are different categories that contribute to crime for example gender, age, and race. In gender we see a higher crime rate with men statistically than any other category. Men are more likely to commit crimes than women statistically shown. As numbers of previous reports have reliability problems many have resorted to a self information report. A self information report consists of a poll or questionnaire in which correspondents are encouraged to be truthful because they will remain anonymous. Sociologist turn their attention to mostly males committing crimes. The sex role theory is used to argue that boys are socialized differently than girls which makes them more troublesome and delinquent. Girls get more supervision, have stricter rules and are controlled. Boys are encouraged to take risks and be the tough and manly figure presented to them. Males have more opportunity to commit crimes and inclination to take the chance against the law. Gender roles play major roles in the actions performed by the male. The boy is shown to perform roles which show him as a provider to the family and of course a strong leader. The female is shown the basic roots of being a mother from a young age which consists of giving the support emotionally and socializing the child. The crime r...