Pivotal voting: The opportunity to tip group decisions skews juries and other voting outcomes.

Many important social and policy decisions are made by small groups of people (e.g., juries, college admissions officers, or corporate boards) with the hope that a collective process will yield better and fairer decisions. In many instances, it is possible for these groups to fail to reach a decision by not garnering a minimum number of votes (e.g., hung juries). Our research finds that pivotal voters vote to avoid such decision failure-voters who can "tip" their group into a punishment decision will be more likely to do so. This effect is distinct from well-known social pressures to simply conform with others or reach unanimity. Using observational data from Louisiana court cases, we find a sharp discontinuity in juries' voting decisions at the threshold between indecision and conviction (Study 1). In a third-party punishment paradigm, pivotal voters were more likely to vote to punish a target than nonpivotal voters, even when holding social information constant (Study 2), and adopted harsher views about the target's deservingness of punishment (Study 3). Using vignettes, we find that pivotal voters are judged to be differentially responsible for the outcomes of their votes-those who "block" the group from reaching a punishment decision are deemed more responsible for the outcome than those who "fall in line" (Study 4). These findings provide insight into how we might improve group decision-making environments to ensure that their outcomes accurately reflect group members' actual beliefs and not the influence of social pressures.

Use of Judicial Bypass of Mandatory Parental Consent to Access Abortion and Judicial Bypass Denials, Florida and Texas, 2018-2021.

Objectives. To describe minors' use of judicial bypass to access abortion and the percentage of bypass petitions denied in Florida and Texas. Methods. Data were derived from official state statistics on judicial bypasses and abortions by age in Texas and Florida; abortions in Texas among minor nonresidents were estimated. In addition, judicial bypass petitions as a percentage of abortions received by minors and judicial bypass denials as a percentage of petitions were calculated. Results. Between 2018 and 2021, minors received 5527 abortions in Florida and an estimated 5220 abortions in Texas. Use of judicial bypass was stable at 14% to 15% in Florida and declined from 14% to 10% in Texas. Among petitions for judicial bypass, denials increased in Florida from 6% to a maximum of 13% and remained stable in Texas at 5% to 7%. Conclusions. Minors' use of judicial bypass in Texas and Florida is substantial. The percentage of denials is higher and increasing in Florida. Public Health Implications. Minors who need confidential abortion care may now be forced to seek judicial bypass far from home. Parental involvement laws in states that do not ban abortion will compound barriers to abortion care. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(3):316-319. https://doi.org/10.2105/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307173).

Improving juror assessments of forensic testimony and its effects on decision-making and evidence evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: We explored whether an educational forensic science informational (FSI) video either alone or with specialized jury instructions would assist mock jurors in evaluating forensic expert testimony. HYPOTHESES: We predicted that the FSI video would help participants distinguish between low-quality and high-quality testimony, evidenced by lower ratings of the testimony and the expert when the testimonial quality was low compared with when it was high. METHOD: Jury-eligible adults (N = 641; Mage = 38.18 years; 77.4% White; 8.1% Latino/a or Hispanic; 50.1% male) watched a mock trial and were randomly assigned to a no-forensic-evidence control condition or to a test condition (i.e., participants either watched the FSI video before the trial or did not and either received specialized posttrial instructions or did not). In the test conditions, a forensic expert provided low-quality or high-quality testimony about a latent impression, and participants rated the expert, their testimony, and the forensic evidence. All participants rendered verdicts. RESULTS: The presence of the FSI video interacted with testimonial quality on ratings of the expert and forensic testimony: In the video-present condition, participants rated the expert in the low-quality testimony condition lower than did participants in the high-quality testimony condition (between-condition differences for credibility: d = -0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.78, -0.27]; trustworthiness: d = -0.67, 95% CI [-0.92, -0.42]; knowledgeability: d = -0.54, 95% CI [-0.80, -0.29]). The pattern was the same for the expert's testimony (between-condition differences for convincingness: d = -0.41, 95% CI [-0.66, -0.16]; validity: d = -0.60, 95% CI [-0.86, -0.35]; presentation quality: d = -0.51, 95% CI [-0.76, -0.25]). Participants' ratings in the video-absent condition did not differ on the basis of testimonial quality (ds = -0.07-0.11). The ratings of the print evidence and verdicts were unaffected. Specialized jury instructions had no effect. CONCLUSION: The FSI video may be a practical in-court intervention to increase jurors' sensitivity to low-quality forensic testimony without creating skepticism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A conjunctive analysis of false accusations, official misconduct, and race in violent and sexual exonerations cases.

The National Registry of Exonerations tracks cases of individuals who have been convicted and exonerated in the United States since 1989. The objective of the current study was to explore the misconduct patterns in violent and sexual offense cases using a novel method with a focus on cases where suspects were falsely accused, either deliberately or by mistaken witness identification. A conjunctive analysis of case configurations (CACC) was conducted using 1690 males convicted of murder/manslaughter, rape/sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. The results showed that compared to Whites, Blacks had a disproportionate amount of official misconduct in both sexual and non-sexual homicide cases. Blacks also had a disproportionate amount of misconduct by multiple actors and multiple types. Blacks had more cases of mistaken witness identification and a disproportionate amount of official misconduct in sexual assault cases. Implications and recommendations are discussed.

Proven and not proven: A potential alternative to the current Scottish verdict system.

The current Scottish verdict system includes three verdicts: 'guilty', 'not guilty' and 'not proven'. The Scottish Government are currently reviewing the utility of the not proven verdict. Proponents of the not proven verdict suggest that it directs jurors to their true role of determining whether the prosecution's case has, or has not, been 'proven'. Reformists suggest a move to a system similar to England and Wales, with only guilty and not guilty verdicts. However, legal professionals have indicated a preference for an alternative system of proven and not proven. The aim of the current study was to test the effects of a proven and not proven system on verdicts given, when compared to alternative verdict systems (specifically, the current Scottish and Anglo-American verdict systems). 227 mock jurors watched a staged murder trial, filmed in a real-life courtroom, with legal professionals questioning witnesses and a judge giving legal direction. Jurors were significantly more likely to convict in a guilty and not guilty verdict system than either a proven and not proven or a guilty, not guilty and not proven verdict system. Future research should replicate this study with a focus on the impact of the not proven verdict in sexual offences.

Waiving goodbye to youth: Jurors perceive transferred juveniles differently from adults but render similar verdicts.

Juveniles are developmentally different from adults but are often treated similarly in the criminal justice system. In case processing, many juveniles are transferred to adult courts. Before case processing, many juveniles are interrogated with the same tactics used against adults. Limited research has examined jurors' decisions in juvenile transfer cases, particularly those involving confession evidence. In two studies, we built on this small line of research and extended it to examine whether jurors make different decisions for juvenile versus adult defendants with differing types of confession evidence. Participants listened to a trial that varied in defendant age (Study 1: 16, 23; Study 2: 13, 16, 23, 42), interrogation pressure (low, high), and interrogation outcome (denial, confession). They rendered a verdict and rated the defendant on dangerousness and maturity. Age did not affect verdict in either study, but it did affect perceptions of dangerousness and maturity in both studies. Study 2 replicated and extended our findings by showing that differences in dangerousness and maturity were driven by participants' preexisting stereotypes about juveniles as superpredators. Overall, jurors recognized juveniles' lesser maturity but did not account for it in their verdicts. The stigma associated with the superpredator stereotype may limit jurors' sensitivity to the developmental vulnerabilities of juvenile defendants.

Eyewitness confidence and mock juror decisions of guilt: A meta-analytic review.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the impact of eyewitness confidence on the following dependent variables: (a) guilty or not-guilty verdict; (b) judgments of guilt as measured on a scale; and (c) mock jurors' perception of the accuracy of an eyewitness's identification. In addition, we examined two potential moderators of the effects of eyewitness confidence: (a) whether the eyewitness expressed confidence at trial versus during the initial lineup identification and (b) whether the eyewitness provided a numerical versus a verbal statement of confidence. HYPOTHESES: We expected all analyses to reveal that highly confident eyewitnesses are more persuasive to mock jurors than are eyewitnesses with lower confidence (Hypothesis 1). We expected eyewitness confidence at trial (relative to at identification) to be more persuasive to mock jurors (Hypothesis 2). We expected numerical expressions of confidence to be more persuasive to mock jurors than verbal confidence expressions (Hypothesis 3). METHOD: We conducted a meta-analysis of 35 studies from 20 published papers and seven theses or dissertations to quantify the effect of eyewitness confidence on juror judgments and investigated the influence of two primary moderator variables, time of confidence and format of confidence expression. RESULTS: All analyses revealed an effect of eyewitness confidence on mock juror decisions (gs = .21-.36). Our moderator analysis showed that the timing of the confidence statement (identification vs. trial) did not affect the influence of eyewitness confidence on mock jurors' judgments of guilt or accuracy. The influence of eyewitness confidence was not moderated by verbal versus numerical expressions of confidence. CONCLUSIONS: Although eyewitness confidence is persuasive to mock jurors, the size of this effect is modest. Moreover, verbal and numerical expressions of confidence have similar persuasive effects, and mock jurors do not appear to be sensitive to the likely difference in evidentiary strength of eyewitness confidence expressed at the initial identification versus at trial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

False confessions predict a delay between release from incarceration and official exoneration.

OBJECTIVES: Little empirical research has examined postconviction processes associated with the unique legal events of release from incarceration and official exoneration. Across various models, we tested the influence of risk factors associated with wrongful convictions (false confessions, faulty or misleading forensic evidence, inadequate legal defense, mistaken eyewitness identifications, official misconduct, and perjury) and relevant alternative factors (e.g., presence of DNA, false guilty pleas, and race) on the exoneration process, with a particular focus on the role of false confessions. HYPOTHESES: We expected that all risk factors would be meaningfully associated with the duration between wrongful conviction and release but that false confessions would be associated with longer delays between release and exoneration and would remain a meaningful predictor of the delay even when accounting for alternative factors. METHOD: Using data from documented exonerations of murder, attempted murder, and accessory to murder in the National Registry of Exonerations (N = 1,074), we examined the association of risk factors and alternative predictors with the time between exonerees' wrongful conviction and release from incarceration and the time between release from incarceration and official exoneration. RESULTS: Overall, five of the six risk factors predicted the time between wrongful conviction and release from incarceration, but of the risk factors, only false confessions predicted the time between release and exoneration (d = 0.28; 95% CI [0.13, 0.43]), even when we controlled for relevant alternative factors (d = 0.29; 95% CI [0.14, 0.43]). CONCLUSIONS: Exonerations that involve false confessions are associated with delays in the critical window between innocent people's release and official exoneration-a time during which these innocent people are precluded from accessing reintegration aids and may struggle to find housing and employment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of pretrial publicity on mock juror and jury verdicts: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: We updated and extended a meta-analysis on pretrial publicity (PTP) conducted by Steblay et al. (1999) by reexamining the effect of negative (antidefendant) PTP on individual (juror) and deliberating group (jury) verdicts and the effect of positive (pro-defendant) PTP on individual verdicts. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that exposure to negative PTP would increase guilty verdicts from both jurors and juries, whereas exposure to positive PTP would decrease guilty verdicts. We predicted that the relationship between negative PTP and juror verdicts would vary according to methodological and theoretical variables. For methodological variables, we hypothesized that published studies, community-member participants, and crime-related comparison conditions would have a stronger PTP effect. For theoretical variables related to the story model, source monitoring bias, and predecisional distortion, we predicted that the effect of PTP would be stronger with more serious crimes, longer time delays, greater amounts of PTP, and more-severe PTP. METHOD: We analyzed 77 unique effect sizes extracted from 27 published and 18 unpublished reports based on 11,240 individual participants. RESULTS: Negative PTP increased juror guilty verdicts (r = .16) and jury verdicts (r = .35), whereas positive PTP decreased guilty verdicts (r = -.21). Moderator analyses revealed that negative PTP's effect on juror verdicts was stronger for published studies, student participants, and unrelated crime or no additional information control groups. Additionally, the biasing effect of negative PTP was stronger for nonviolent crimes, trial delays of less than 1 week, PTP presented in one article with multiple facts, and moderate-severity PTP. CONCLUSIONS: PTP has a modest biasing effect when it favors or disfavors the defendant. Nonetheless, the impact of negative PTP on individuals varies according to studies' methodological variables and variables theoretically related to the mechanism underlying PTP's biasing effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Inequality in the last resort: how medical appraisal affects malpractice litigations in China.

BACKGROUND: Medical malpractice litigations affect the practices of patient safety. However, medical malpractice litigations involve highly specialized knowledge. Thus, medical appraisal is usually essential in the ascertainment of responsibility and judicial decision-making. China's judicial system is characterized by a dual-mode of medical appraisal resulting from two parallel appraisal agencies: judicial appraisal institutions and medical associations. This paper examines whether or not and how choices of different medical appraisal agencies affect malpractice lawsuit results in China. METHODS: We collected and sampled a total of 2557 verdicts pertaining to medical disputes from "China Judgements Online" in 2014. We used an ordinary least square regression model and a mediating effect regression model to analyze to what extent and how different choices between two medical appraisal agencies affect malpractice litigations. RESULTS: (1) Almost 81.55% (2082) of litigants resorted to medical malpractice appraisals in China in 2014. Among 2070 cases with appraisal results accepted by the court, 60.10% of the litigants chose judicial appraisal institutions (1244), as opposed to medical associations (826). (2) Among 2557 cases, 2306 (90.18%) claimed compensation and 1919 (83.22%) were awarded compensation by the courts. The proportion of compensation paid in a case is 48% on average. (3) Appraisal agencies matter in the investigation of medical errors, which in turn affects the proportion of compensation paid in a case. (4) Choosing judicial appraisal institutions will raise the proportion of compensation paid by about 10% on average. CONCLUSIONS: Different choices between appraisal institutions affect malpractice litigations in China. As the last resort for remedying medical malpractice, medical appraisals in the judicial system could be a source of inequality in China's medical litigation outcomes.

Feasibility and acceptability of a brief suicide intervention for youth involved with the family court.

As efforts to develop models for suicide prevention and intervention in the juvenile justice (JJ) system continue to grow, research to understand the feasibility and acceptability of implementing these models is critical. Examining organizational readiness for implementation, ensuring leadership and staff buy-in for delivering the intervention, and planning for sustainability of staff participation in implementation efforts is essential. The current study involved semi-structured formative evaluation interviews with key JJ stakeholders (n = 10) to determine perspectives on the acceptability (perceived need and fit of the intervention) and feasibility (organizational readiness for change) of a proposed brief safety planning intervention for youth with suicidal ideation delivered by nonclinical staff and integrated into the existing system. Qualitative data revealed stakeholders' perceived need for the intervention in the family court context and their agreement that the aims of the intervention were congruent with the goals of the family court. Some barriers to successful implementation were noted, which, addressed through selection of appropriate implementation strategies, can be overcome in a future test of the safety intervention.

Anchoring effect in legal decision-making: A meta-analysis.

Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis to examine whether numeric decision-making in law is susceptible to the effect of (possibly arbitrary) values present in the decision contexts (anchoring effect) and to investigate which factors might moderate this effect. Hypotheses: We predicted that the presence of numeric anchors would bias legal decision-makers' judgment in the direction of the anchor value. We hypothesized that the effect size of anchoring would be moderated by several variables, which we grouped into three categories: methodological (type of stimuli; type of sample), psychological (standard vs. basic paradigm; anchor value; type of scale on which the participants assessed the target value), and legal (relevance of the anchor; type of the anchor; area of law to which the presented case belonged; presence of any salient numeric values other than the main anchor). Method: Twenty-nine studies (93 effect sizes; N = 8,549) met the inclusion criteria. We divided them into two groups, depending on whether they included a control group, and calculated the overall effect size using a random-effects Model with robust variance estimation. We assessed the influence of moderators using random effects metaregression. Results: The overall effect sizes of anchoring for studies with a control group (z = .27, 95% CI [.21, .33], d = .58, 95% CI [.44, .73]) and without a control group (z = .39, 95% CI [.31, .47], d = .91, 95% CI [.69, 1.12]) were both significant, although we provide some evidence of possible publication bias. We found preliminary evidence of a potential moderating effect of some legally relevant factors, such as legal expertise or the anchor relevance. Conclusions: Existing research indicates anchoring effects exist in legal contexts. The influence of anchors seems to depend on some situational factors, which paves the way for future research on countering the problematic effect in legal settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Race, witness credibility, and jury deliberation in a simulated drug trafficking trial.

OBJECTIVE: The present study integrates several distinct lines of jury decision-making research by examining how the racial identities of the defendant and an informant witness interact in a federal drug conspiracy trial scenario and by assessing whether jurors' individual racial identity and jury group racial composition influence their judgments. HYPOTHESES: We predicted that jurors would be biased against the Black defendant and would be more likely to convict after exposure to a White informant, among other hypotheses. METHOD: We recruited 822 nonstudent jury-eligible participants assigned to 144 jury groups. Each group was assigned to one of four onditions where defendant race (Black or White) and informant race (Black or White) was manipulated. Each group watched a realistic audio-visual trial presentation, then deliberated as a group to render a verdict. RESULTS: Contrary to expectations, the conditions depicting a Black defendant yielded lower conviction rates compared to those with a White defendant-at both the predeliberation individual (odds ratio [OR] = 1.54) and postdeliberation group level (OR = 2.91)-while the informant race did not influence verdict outcomes. We also found that jurors rated the government witnesses as more credible when the defendant was White compared to when he was Black. Credibility ratings and verdict outcomes were also predicted by jurors' own race, although juror race did not interact with the race conditions when predicting verdicts. CONCLUSIONS: Jurors are sensitive to defendant race, and this sensitivity appears to strengthen after deliberation-but in a direction opposite to what was expected. One potential implication of our findings is that juries may operate as a check on system bias by applying greater scrutiny to law enforcement-derived evidence when the defendant is Black. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Remote delivery of a therapeutic intervention to court-mandated youths of Haitian descent during COVID-19.

The threat generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered sudden institutional changes in an effort to reduce viral spread. Restrictions on group gatherings and in-person engagement have increased the demand for remote service delivery. These restrictions have also affected the delivery of court-mandated interventions. However, much of the literature has focused on populations that voluntarily seek out face-to-face medical care or mental health services, whereas insufficient attention has been paid to telehealth engagement of court-mandated populations. This article draws on data gathered on an NIH/NIDA-funded study intervention implemented with juvenile justice-involved youths of Haitian heritage in Miami-Dade County, Florida, during the COVID-19 public health crisis. We explore the process of obtaining consent, technological access issues, managing privacy, and other challenges associated with remote delivery of family-based therapy to juvenile justice-involved youth. Our aim is to provide some insights for consideration by therapists, healthcare workers, advocates, researchers, and policymakers tasked with finding alternative and safer ways to engage nontraditional populations in health services. The clinical trial registration number is NCT03876171.

A Study into the Operation of the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal.

The Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal makes difficult decisions regarding involuntary treatment of people with mental illness, applying strict legislative criteria against a backdrop of fundamental human rights considerations. This article reports on focus group research with lawyers and advocates for people with mental illness who appear before the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal. Participants expressed concerns regarding the manner in which decisions are made. For example, participants said that their clients' views on the side effects of treatment do not receive adequate consideration when involuntary treatment is authorised. We review these concerns in the light of applicable legal obligations, including those arising from human rights law. We conclude that if these concerns are accurate, some adjustments to the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal's decision-making processes are required.

Denials of Judicial Bypass Petitions for Abortion in Texas Before and After the 2016 Bypass Process Change: 2001-2018.

Objectives. To estimate the percentage of Texas judicial bypass petitions for abortion denied annually from 2001 to 2018, and to assess whether that fraction changed after the state's 2016 bypass process change.Methods. Because official statistics on Texas judicial bypass case counts and outcomes are only available for 2016 and later, we systematically reviewed monthly internal reports from Jane's Due Process (JDP), an organization providing legal representation to pregnant minors seeking bypass from 2001 to 2018. We report numbers and percentages of JDP cases denied for 2001 to 2018 and numbers and percentages of all cases denied from official Texas statistics for 2016 to 2018 (all available years).Results. At least 1 denial occurred in 11 out of 15 years observed before the bypass law changed in Texas (percentages = 0%-6.2%). After Texas made its bypass process more restrictive, the percentage denied increased (from 2.8% in 2015 to 10.3% in 2016 among JDP cases).Conclusions. We found the greatest percentages of judicial bypass for abortion petitions denied after the policy was implemented and after the bypass process changed. Judicial bypass for abortion may expose pregnant minors to judicial veto of their abortion decision.

An exploratory examination of intellectual disability and mental illness associated with alleged false confessions.

The National Registry of Exonerations tracks cases of individuals who have been wrongly convicted and exonerated since 1989. Their most recent report revealed that 12% of those exonerated gave false confessions. The current study used data from the National Registry of Exonerations and focused on a sample of 2,378 individuals convicted of felonies with a focus on sexual offenses, as such crimes tend to be viewed as particularly heinous with increased consequences for those convicted. After examining various legal and extralegal factors, the results showed that those accused of sexual offenses, particularly sexual murders, had a greater likelihood of giving a false confession than those accused of non-sexual offenses. The likelihood of falsely confessing was higher among juveniles, those with mental illness and intellectual disabilities, and cases with multiple suspects. Females had a greater odds of falsely confessing to murder than males. Implications and recommendations are discussed.