Most people enjoy a good magic trick, but these sleights of hand may prove to be more than just entertainment. Consider the results of a recent study.In one experiment, 420 people were shown three short video clips, none of which had sound. In the first video, a young...
Month: August 2016
When some inmates say they didn’t do it, they really didn’t do it
Many people who have never been involved to any material degree with the criminal justice system routinely posit confidence in the utterances of criminal authorities citing certain alleged truths and absolutes.To wit: We said he's guilty, and he's guilty.To many...
Plea deals and the trial penalty: Part II
In our last post, we began a discussion about plea deals, which are how the vast majority of criminal charges are resolved. Although plea bargains have a legitimate purpose and can sometimes be beneficial for defendants, many individuals are forced into a plea deal by...
Plea deals and the trial penalty: Part I
Under the Sixth Amendment, anyone facing criminal charges is guaranteed the right to a public trial by a jury of their peers. And if you were to believe the crime dramas you see on TV, trials are the most common way to resolve criminal charges.But that's not actually...