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Fragile Justice: A Study Of The Impact Of A Defendant's Looks On A Judge's Judgment

Posted on:2016-08-08Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:C S ZhouFull Text:PDF
GTID:2336330503494408Subject:Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
“Same verdict in the same kind of case” is an inherent requirement for judicial judgment. However, there are many factors that may impact a judge's judicial judgment. This paper takes the legal positivism approach in studying whether or not a factor such as a defendant's looks may impact a Judge's fair judgment on a case, if so, what is the magnitude of such impact?This paper first assumes that a judge's judgment maybe impacted by a defendant's looks, and then selects two groups of participants(Judge Group & Student Group) to conduct tests in order to verify such assumption. Two tests are conducted in the form of questionnaire.Test 1 is a test on the impact of a defendant's looks and gender on a Judge's judgment; Test 2 is a test on the impact of a defendant's looks and gender on a student's judgment on the defendant's term of imprisonment.Following conclusions are made through the aforementioned two tests.Conclusion 1: a defendant's looks can impact a Judge's sentence on him or her.Conclusion 2: A Judge sentences a shorter term of imprisonment to the one with more attractive looks; conversely, the Judge sentences a longer term of imprisonment to the one with less attractive looks.Conclusion 3: Appealing looks may also impact a student's judgment on the defendant's term of imprisonment. Students may also hold that the one with more attractive looks may have a shorter term of imprisonment, while the one with less attractive looks may have a longer term of imprisonment.Conclusion 4: Through making comparison between the Judge Group and the Student Group, it is concluded that the professional legal background as maintained by the Judge may help to reduce such cognitive bias.
Keywords/Search Tags:justice, judicial adjudication, cognitive bias, physical attractivene
PDF Full Text Request
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