When justice goes wrong

摘要

The criminal justice system is flawed. Many of its key assumptions about human nature lack evidence. Deep-set prejudices make it hard for some defendants to get a fair trial. False confessions are rife. Lawyers are no more honest than anyone else, and judges no less susceptible to bias. Juries often make terrible decisions. Too many cases ride on expert testimony that jurors and judges are ill-equipped to understand. So says Adam Benforado, in his provocative book Unfair. His criticisms are not new. The usual response from the legal profession is that the system is the best it can be, and a notable improvement on such previous incarnations as summary justice and vigilantism. But Benforado, an associate professor of law and former lawyer, thinks we could do a lot better - by bringing behavioural science into the mix.