Monday, 19 September 2011

If you commit a crime- try to get a hearing after lunch!!


Given that judges are employed to be fair and just across cases and hearings- the following research is rather worrying.

Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel and Columbia University examined decisions made by judges who ruled on convicts' parole requests. It was found that judges granted 65% of requests they heard at the beginning of the day's sessions and almost none at the end. Right after a snack break, approavls jumped back to 65% again.  Now it could be that as is the same with any professional that has to make repeated decisions throughout the day- they suffered from mental fatigue or could it be that when judges are hungry they are more strict??  Does a judge who eats porridge and banana for breakfast grant more requests for parole and a judge who has a coffee and an apple deny more?

Information taked from The American Mind magazine, Volume 22

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