A National Survey of Problem-Solving Court Staff Perceptions of In-Person versus Virtual Hearings.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, problem-solving courts adopted virtual hearings. We conducted an online nationwide survey with a convenience sample of court staff to elicit their perceptions of court participants' attendance, engagement, willingness to talk, and ability to form connection with judges during in-person versus virtual hearings. Sign tests compared ordinal ratings for perceptions of court participant outcomes during in-person versus virtual hearing modalities, and for audiovisual technology versus audio-only technology. The final analysis included 146 staff. Staff felt that during in-person hearings judges could form closer relationships with participants, quality of information exchanged was higher, and participants were more willing to talk. Staff rated attendance as high regardless of the modality. Staff felt participant engagement was higher with audiovisual technology than audio-only technology. Our results suggest that staff have concerns about effects of virtual hearings on court participant engagement and ability to form relationships with judges. Courts should address these potential negative effects of virtual hearings. We are concerned that staff perceived participants more negatively when participants used audio-only versus audiovisual technology, because technology access could be associated with participant demographic characteristics. Further research is needed to examine court participant perceptions and outcomes.

Effects of a US Supreme Court ruling to restrict abortion rights.

Previous research focused on popular US Supreme Court rulings expanding rights; however, less is known about rulings running against prevailing public opinion and restricting rights. We examine the impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization opinion, which overturned Roe v. Wade's (1973) constitutional protection of abortion rights. A three-wave survey panel (5,489 interviews) conducted before the leak of the drafted Dobbs opinion, after the leak, and after the official opinion release, and cross-sectional data from these three time points (10,107 interviews) show that the ruling directly influenced views about the constitutional legality of abortion and fetal viability. However, personal opinions were not directly influenced and perceived social norms shifted away from the ruling, meaning that individuals perceived greater public support for abortion. We argue that extensive coverage of opposition to overturning Roe v. Wade supported this shift. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization also caused large changes, polarized by party identification, in opinions about the Supreme Court.

Judicial bypass for minors post-Dobbs.

State laws that require minors seeking abortion care to notify or obtain consent from a parent or other legal guardian are broadly referred to as parental involvement laws. Judicial bypass allows a minor to petition the court to bypass parental involvement. Even before the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision overturned Roe v Wade on 24 June 2022, 36 states had at least one parental involvement law, making minor access to abortion care even more complex than adult access. Since the Dobbs decision, at least 15 states have completely banned abortion, adding further complexity, geographic barriers, and inequities to the pursuit of reproductive healthcare. In this narrative review and commentary, we explain parental involvement laws and judicial bypass from both a legal and medical perspective, exploring the evolving challenges created by this system in the year post-Dobbs.

Gender, Generations, and Guilt: Defendant Gender and Age Affect Jurors' Decisions and Perceptions in an Intimate Partner Homicide Trial.

Using the context of an intimate partner homicide trial, the study explored the effects of defendant gender and age on mock-jurors' verdicts, sentences, and culpability ratings-and whether defendant credibility and juror anger mediate these effects. The study used a 2 (Defendant Gender: male vs. female) × 3 (Defendant Age: 25, 45, or 65 years) between-subjects design. Participants (N = 513 community members) completed the experiment online. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the six Defendant Gender × Age Conditions. Participants read the trial transcripts that included the age and gender manipulations, provided verdicts and sentences, and completed the following measures: culpability, anger, credibility, and manipulation checks. Consistent with our hypotheses mock-jurors were more likely to find the male defendant guilty and give him longer sentences than the female defendant. Additionally, when the defendant was male (vs. female) mock-jurors provided higher anger ratings and rated the defendant as more culpable in the victim's death. Also consistent with our hypotheses, mock-jurors were more likely to find the youngest defendant guilty and view him as more culpable and less credible than the oldest defendant. The mechanisms responsible for jurors' biased decisions varied as a function of the extra-legal variable (defendant gender vs. age). The defendant age effect was mediated by defendant credibility and the gender effect by juror anger. A defendant's right to a fair trial is dependent on a court's ability to limit extra-legal variables from influencing jurors' decisions. Understanding the mechanism responsible for such bias is required before the courts can effectively remedy bias.

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).

Challenging the US Supreme Court's Majority Ruling on Roe v. Wade at the International Human Rights Level.

This paper proposes that US human rights experts and abortion rights advocates challenge the striking down of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 by the majority of US Supreme Court justices because of the multiple human rights violations it has engendered. The paper has three parts. The first part summarizes the compelling response of the three dissenting Supreme Court justices to the majority ruling, which spells out those violations in detail. The second part offers a history of cases of violations of human rights related to abortion in other countries that have been heard and adjudicated by a range of human rights bodies in the last 20 years, and their outcomes. It shows that working on these cases has created working relationships between national and international human rights experts and advocates. Based on this information, the third part proposes that US human rights and abortion rights advocates take a case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the US Supreme Court ruling, asking the commission to direct the US government to void the majority ruling on Roe v. Wade-on the grounds that it violates the human rights of anyone who seeks an abortion and potentially also of those whose wanted pregnancies become a risk to their health and life and need to be terminated. And if the United States does not agree, the commission should refer the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Lessons From Canadian Judgments: The Consideration of Culture in Intimate Partner Violence Legal Cases Involving Asian Canadians.

Despite the pervasiveness of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Canada, research examining IPV in the context of Asian Canadians is scarce. Our study examined whether and how Canadian judges consider culture when determining a sentence in IPV cases involving an Asian offender and/or an Asian victim. We systematically searched for publicly published cases through CanLII. A total of 50 cases met the inclusion criteria. Cultural themes were identified using a direct content analysis approach to capture a priori themes in the literature, as well as identify any other factors considered. Our findings indicated culture was most often considered in only a superficial way (n = 31, 62.0%), where judges only made statements that simply identified the ethnicity of the offender and not how culture may have impacted the case. When examining cases where culture was meaningfully considered there were no prominent culture themes identified (all themes present in <14% of cases). We suggest this may not only reflect the heterogeneity of Asian Canadians, but could also reflect the lack of cultural consideration by the judges. Cultural factors were also rarely considered explicitly as an aggravating or mitigating factor in a case (n = 2; 4.0% and n = 7; 14.0% of the total sample, respectively). The findings reveal the current lack of meaningful consideration of culture in IPV legal cases involving Asian Canadians. We outline how this contrasts the increased attention to the meaningful consideration of culture in the Canadian legal arena and prompt all professionals involved in assessing and managing IPV risk to consider racial, ethnic, and cultural factors in these cases.

Juror Decision-Making in a Child Trafficking Case: The Impact of Defendant and Victim Gender, Defendant Age, and Defendant Status.

There has been an increase in human trafficking in Canada from 2018 to 2019, which suggests a rising trend in human trafficking, and as such, the number of court cases are likely increasing. Because of this, the current study sought to examine how a defendant and victim's gender, and defendant social status and age impacted mock jurors' decision-making in a child trafficking case. Participants (N = 584) read a mock trial transcript depicting a child trafficking case. They were then asked to render a verdict, answer questions relating to perceptions of the victim and defendant and rate their level of agreements on statements concerning sex and human trafficking. Although there was no effect on dichotomous verdict, mock jurors attributed higher guilt ratings to the male trafficker. Moreover, participants reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was female, and the victim was male compared to female. Participants also reported more favorable perceptions of the victim when the trafficker was of high social status and younger compared to older. Additionally, when mock jurors were well-informed about trafficking victim blaming did not occur. The results of the current study provide some insight into juror perceptions of child sex trafficking cases.

Women with substance use disorders are highly impacted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade: Advocacy steps are urgently needed.

The Supreme Court's ruling to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade verdict represents a major setback for women's reproductive freedoms in the United States. This ruling revokes constitutional protection for abortion rights and returns the decision to the states. Since this ruling in June 2022, numerous states have adopted total or near total abortion bans, with many of these bans offering no exception for rape, incest, or nonfatal maternal health risks. Legal experts also warn that this ruling can open the door to restrict contraceptive rights previously protected under the same implied constitutional right to privacy as abortion. Already, this decision has increased momentum for states to place restrictions on specific forms of contraception. Certain groups of women will be disproportionately harmed by these bans, such as women with substance use disorders (SUDs). Women with SUDs face unique barriers to sexual and reproductive health services that exist at the structural level (e.g., criminalization; costs and accessibility), interpersonal level (e.g., higher rates of intimate partner violence) and individual level (e.g., reduced reproductive autonomy). These synergistic barriers interact to produce lower contraceptive use, increased unintended pregnancy rates, and subsequently a greater need for abortion services among this population. This ruling will exacerbate the effects of these barriers on women with SUDs, resulting in even greater difficulties accessing contraceptive and abortion services, and ultimately increasing rates of criminalization among pregnant and parenting women with SUDs. This commentary describes these barriers and highlights potential advocacy steps that are urgently needed to assist reproductive-aged women with SUDs during these challenging times when essential health services are increasingly inaccessible.

Mock-Jurors' Judgements in a Sexual Assault Case: The Influence of Defendant Race and Occupational Status, Delayed Reporting, and Multiple Allegations.

Reports of sexual offences have increased in recent years, with many cases involving allegations against high-status individuals (e.g., Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby). In addition, many of these cases have involved allegations against the defendant from multiple victims, with long delays in reporting of the alleged assault. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of defendant occupational status (low vs. high), defendant race (White, Black), number of allegations (one vs. five victims), and the length of reporting delay (5, 20, or 35 years) on mock-juror decision-making. Mock-jurors (N = 752) read a mock-trial transcript describing a sexual assault case. After reading the trial transcript, mock-jurors were asked to provide dichotomous and continuous guilt ratings, as well as ratings regarding their perceptions of the defendant and victim. Results revealed that mock-jurors rendered more guilty verdicts, assigned higher guilt ratings, and perceived the defendant less favorably and the victim more favorably, when the defendant was White (as opposed to Black) and when there were multiple allegations against the defendant. The current findings suggest that defendant race and the number of allegations are highly influential in the context of a sexual assault case.

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).

The Effects of Victim Gender Identity, Juror Gender, and Judicial Instructions on Victim Blaming, Crime Severity Ratings, and Verdicts in Sexual Assault Trials.

Transgender individuals may experience social discrimination and unfair legal considerations as crime victims. The current purpose was to investigate the relationship between the participant/jurors' gender, the victims' gender identity, and judge's instructions to ignore the gender identity of the victim on perceptions of the victim and the crime and verdicts rendered in a sexual assault case. Overall, crime severity ratings were significantly lower for the trans male victim compared to the cisgender female victim. Male participants reported lower crime severity ratings for trials involving transgender victims compared to cisgender victims. However, victim blaming, likelihood that the defendant committed the crime, sentencing recommendations, verdict confidence, and conviction rates did not vary by the victim's gender identity, the participant's gender identity, nor the judge's instructions. Participant gender as a predictor of verdict approached significance, indicating a trend for males to render more not guilty verdicts and females to render more guilty verdicts. In summary, male jurors perceived the crimes involving transgender victims as less severe and this may have impacted the rate of not guilty verdicts.

Wrongful Convictions and Erroneous Acquittals: Applying Packer's Model to Examine Public Perceptions of Judicial Errors in Australia.

The fallible nature of the criminal justice system continues to see judicial errors-that is, wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals-undermine its integrity, efficacy, and legitimacy. Public perceptions of judicial errors are important contributors to criminal justice policy and reforms. The current study utilizes the 2016 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) dataset to examine public attitudes toward judicial errors. It applies Herbert Packer's crime control and due process models to understand how concerns around procedural safeguards and public safety are associated with public perceptions toward judicial errors. Packer's model has been challenged by studies, which theorize that the models are not mutually exclusive. Yet, they have not been empirically tested in this context, which is a gap this study seeks to fill. Findings show that due process and crime control concerns shape public attitudes toward wrongful convictions and challenge the notion that Packer's models be applied on a continuum.

The patient/physician relationship in a post-Roe world: a neonatologist viewpoint.

The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization has far-reaching implications that go beyond the practice of obstetrics and gynecology. The ruling and subsequent laws and bills impact many specialties and have implications for healthcare as a whole. The rapidly changing medicolegal landscape has significant bearings on and implications for the fields of neonatology and pediatrics. These rulings have an impact on the patient-physician relationship and a shared decision-making approach to care. Furthermore, there are significant sequelae of forced birth and resuscitation. This review provides a clinically relevant update of the current medicolegal landscape and applications to the practice of neonatology.

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.

Can jurors be biased in their evaluation of third-party evidence within cases of rape?

Prior research has indicated that beliefs in rape myths can influence juror decision making in cases involving sexual assault, however, the phenomenon has been typically examined in relation to victim and defendant believability, as well as final verdicts. The current study observed mock jurors' evaluations of third-party witness evidence in alleged rape cases to determine whether these judgements were influenced by inherent rape myths. Participants (N = 196) took part in a mock juror experiment that included evidence from an eyewitness that was either in support of the defence, prosecution, or neutral. We found that males and individuals holding strong beliefs in rape myths were more likely to find defendants 'not guilty'. Additionally, participants endorsing rape myths were also more likely to view eyewitness evidence favourably, but only when it was in support of the defence. Our findings suggest that personal biases can influence the level of credence jurors place on case evidence, potentially through a confirmation bias.

[Disease in the archives of Labor Courts in Pelotas,Southern Brazil, 1939-1954]. / A doença no acervo documental da Justiça do Trabalho de Pelotas (RS), 1939-1954.

This article discusses disease in the archives of the Pelotas labor court system between 1939 and 1954. Although occupational diseases were encompassed by laws on work-related accidents, which linked them to the regular judicial system, claims heard in labor courts related to multiple issues. In addition, these claims were also intersected by experiences of living with illness. This study focuses on lawsuits involving women, since their claims were often dismissed. Primary sources are accessed and the concepts of the quotidian and experience are used. The most recurring diseases were pulmonary tuberculosis and syphilis.

O texto aborda a doença no acervo da Justiça do Trabalho de Pelotas, entre 1939 e 1954. Ainda que houvesse uma legislação específica sobre as enfermidades laborais, relacionadas às leis sobre os acidentes de trabalho, que as vinculasse à Justiça Comum, os pedidos na Justiça do Trabalho se referiam a várias questões; contudo, as demandas eram atravessadas pela vivência com o adoecimento. O estudo preocupou-se em dar atenção a processos relacionados às mulheres, já que suas demandas eram, muitas vezes, julgadas improcedentes. Para a observação do material foi utilizada a análise documental, além dos conceitos de cotidiano e experiência. As doenças mais recorrentes foram a tuberculose pulmonar e a sífilis.