A child is gunned down by a police officer; an investigator ignores critical clues in a case; an innocent man confesses to a crime he did not commit; a jury acquits a killer. The evidence is all around us: Our system of justice is fundamentally broken.
But it’s not for the reasons we tend to think, as law professor Adam Benforado argues in this eye-opening, galvanizing book. Even if the system operated exactly as it was designed to, we would still end up with wrongful convictions, trampled rights, and unequal treatment. This is because the roots of injustice lie not inside the dark hearts of racist police officers or dishonest prosecutors, but within the minds of each and every one of us.
This is difficult to accept. Our nation is founded on the idea that the law is impartial, that legal cases are won or lost on the basis of evidence, careful reasoning and nuanced argument. But they may, in fact, turn on the camera angle of a defendant’s taped confession, the number of photos in a mug shot book, or a simple word choice during a cross-examination. In Unfair, Benforado shines a light on this troubling new field of research, showing, for example, that people with certain facial features receive longer sentences and that judges are far more likely to grant parole first thing in the morning.
Over the last two decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have uncovered many cognitive forces that operate beyond our conscious awareness. Until we address these hidden biases head-on, Benforado argues, the social inequality we see now will only widen, as powerful players and institutions find ways to exploit the weaknesses of our legal system.
Weaving together historical examples, scientific studies, and compelling court cases—from the border collie put on trial in Kentucky to the five teenagers who falsely confessed in the Central Park Jogger case—Benforado shows how our judicial processes fail to uphold our values and protect society’s weakest members. With clarity and passion, he lays out the scope of the legal system’s dysfunction and proposes a wealth of practical reforms that could prevent injustice and help us achieve true fairness and equality before the law.
Published: June 16, 2015
My Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I can sum up my thoughts in three easy words: Read this book. No, don’t even hesitate long enough to read this review. Just buy the book.
Research suggests that you’re significantly more likely to convince a lawmaker to support a new bill that will indefinitely detain certain sex offenders after they complete their sentences if you tell him about a specific child victim than if you explain that it will save a thousand statistical lives. It’s no coincidence that major pieces of legislation – like Megan’s Law and the Adam Walsh Act – have been motivated by the murder of a single child.
For those of you still with me, I’ll do my best to offer some specifics. While the author gives us lots of facts to ponder, the content never feels dry or overly academic. Benforado writes in a conversational style, engaging his readers as if he’s sitting with friends.
I read a lot on this topic, and this book is one of the best out there. We look at psychological studies and indisputable facts, proving our ‘justice’ system is anything but fair. We explore topics such as jury selection, which allows and even encourages lawyers to seek jurors with the most prejudicial tendencies in their favor. The side with the most money to spend on consultants for jury selection has an enormous head start in the trial.
How troubled are we by the thought that, this very day, men and women are sitting on death row for crimes that they did not commit – one in every twenty-five, by the best estimate?
Some of the most startling information, for me, came in the section on plea bargaining. I was aware that this often allowed violent criminals to plea down to lesser crimes for lesser time, but I wasn’t aware how often it worked in reverse, forcing people who are not necessarily guilty of anything aside from being in the wrong place at the wrong time into plea bargains. This is particularly true with our poor and uneducated class of people, who cannot afford private lawyers and whose court-appointed attorneys are too overworked and underfunded to be of any real value. These people are bullied, scared into believing they will do hard time if they opt for a jury trial. Sadly, this scare tactic works. Less than 10-percent of cases ever go to trial. Our court system has instead become a plea bargaining system.
In the United States today, the vast majority of people charged with a crime are presented with a choice: say you did it and receive leniency, or maintain your innocence and suffer the consequences if a jury doesn’t agree.
The psychological information Benforada provides is both fascinating and upsetting. All of us, whether we realize it or not, make quick assumptions based on little fact. I was startled to learn that even something as simple as having a lot of trees in a given neighborhood leads many of us to believe the neighborhood is safer than a similar city neighborhood with few trees. Once we’ve made an assumption, we look for data backing us up, while ignoring conflicting information. This isn’t done maliciously. We aren’t even necessarily aware of doing it, which makes it all the more challenging to conquer.
Research suggests that one we have summed someone up, we search for data confirming that identity and disregard or minimize evidence conflicting with it. Or course, it doesn’t feel that way. It feels as though we are just dispassionately sorting through details.
Benforado closes with some intriguing ideas for fixing our broken system. Whether you agree with his ideas or not, his insight opens a dialogue we desperately need to be having nationwide.
Have I convinced you? I hope so. Buy the book. Read it. Give it to friends. Then talk about it. Maybe then we’ll finally start working toward change.
Thanks for reading. 