Aristotle once said that "law is reason, free from passion" but previous research has shown that perspective taking and racial stereotyping can play a major role in legal decision-making. Past studies have also demonstrated that victim impact statements made during the trial may bring in jury bias and personal prejudice into sentencing decisions, as they may make jurors more aware of the victim rather than the defendant and its crime. This is of particular importance in capital sentencing cases where the life or death of the defendant is dependent on jury decision. We therefore looked into how perspective taking with the defendant, the emotional content of the victim impact statements, and the race of the victim will influence the juror decision-making and sentencing of mock jurors.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Kamdar, Bansari Mayur

Subject

• Community
• Culture

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-032714-074121

Keyword

• Race discrimination
• Equality--Social aspects

Advisor

• Skorinko, Jeanine LM

Year

• 2014

Date created

• 2014-03-27

Location

• Worcester

Resource type

• Interactive Qualifying Project

Rights statement

• In Copyright

Last modified

• 2020-12-31