Local legal culture, personality traits, and the administration of justice in the Superior Court of Delaware. (Volumes I and II)

The law, by itself, plays a relatively small role in the disposition of felony criminal cases; the exercise of discretion is thought to play a greater role. Attorneys and judges attribute disparities in decision outcomes to the personalities of the decision makers; consistencies are said to be due to the local legal culture. There is little research on how specific personality traits and local legal culture factors actually influence discretion. Social psychology provides a model to examine the influences of the extra-legal factors of the person and the situation on behavior. This study uses the disparity model to test the influences of specific personality traits and local legal culture factors on attorney evaluations of the act and defendant seriousnesses, evidentiary strength, and priority for disposition of criminal cases.;The research questions examine the extent of disparity across the evaluations and the specific influences of the personality traits and local legal culture factors. The data for this study come from a decision making simulation composed of 21 criminal case scenarios and paper and pencil tests for role orientation and the specific personality traits of Machiavellianism, belief in a just world, interpersonal trust, and conflict resolution preference. This simulation was completed by prosecutors, public defenders, and private attorneys who dispose of felony cases in Delaware's Superior Court.;The case evaluation decisions are not affected equally by personality traits or local legal culture factors. Specific personality traits and local legal culture factors appear to have the greatest influences on the evaluations of the defendant and evidence--decisions with the highest disparities. These extra-legal factors have little, if any, influence on the evaluations exhibiting the most consistency--decisions on the case's act severity and priority. To be successful, policy must be based on the extent of decision disparity, the elements of the decision, and the specific extra-legal influences. Further research needs to be conducted on additional decisions, other actors in the criminal justice system, and involve several jurisdictions. Criminal case disposition is a human process shaped by each attorney's contribution to the creation and perpetuation of a jurisdiction's local legal culture.