Unacknowledged unconscious bias still influences attorney behavior
Evidence
For many years, we have worked together on behalf of the accused, Andrea as a criminal defense attorney and Mortimer as an investigator. We trained together, served on death penalty teams together, and taught together. What we know is that bias crosses legal divides, affecting the decision-making of even those who are seemingly well-intentioned and egalitarian, such as criminal defense attorneys. When we last visited this subject (see Lyon & Smith, 2014), it was not as clear as it is today that overt racism is a significant force (see, for example, Jacobs, 2018), and we will address those concerns a bit later in the chapter. Our main emphasis here is on how unconscious racism and biases often play a role in our everyday criminal defense decisions (Richardson, 2011). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 665 (
#exemplifies, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Adversarial lawyers serve clients while inquisitorial lawyers serve justice — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 636; Informed consent in medicine reshaped legal ethics toward collaborative lawyer-client decision-making. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1168; Unstated responsibility judgments silently drive client decisions and breed hostility. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 1130 (+10 more)
Broader Connections
- Unconscious bias affects even well-intentioned criminal defense attorneys.
#exemplifies(0.95) - Bias affects even well-intentioned egalitarian defense attorneys who represent the accused
#exemplifies(0.93) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 665 - Bias awareness alone does not change behavior and can backfire
#complicates(0.75) - Implicit biases can be consciously overridden through deliberate attention
#complicates(0.72) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1362