Much has happened since we last published and we have attempted to keep up with it by bringing you multiple articles on current topics. Racism and bias are our wheelhouse in the world of trial consulting and so we have two articles for you on that arena.
First, a research article on how even small visual or verbal indicators of religion can increase bias against African Americans. This is powerful and disturbing research that will make you question what you are currently doing to mitigate bias. It certainly made Karen Hurwitz and George Kich, our trial consultant respondents, reflect carefully on bias in the courtroom and in the deliberation room.
Second, the George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin case has made headlines and incited debate across the nation. Doug Keene and Rita Handrich are looking at that case through the lens of social science research and showing how you can build case narratives based on the literature and then test those narratives in pretrial research. It’s an unusual perspective and one we think will make you stop and think as well.
And we have a lot more. We know you’re wondering about social media analysis in trials with lots of media coverage. Amy Singer tells you all about the how-to's of that process. Katherine James gives practical and “non-mental-health-professional” advice on how to deal with the “crazy” witness. Stan Brodsky, Elaine Lewis and Ellen Finlay react to a brief article on preparing the expert witness by Doug Carner. Then Ryan Malphurs and Hailey Drescher teach us about analogies (like broccoli and Justice Scalia’s wife) and Andrea Krebel summarizes what is happening with jurors questioning witnesses. Finally, we have a book review on Ideology, Psychology, and the Law—the new encyclopedia of the intersection between law and the mind sciences.
It’s a lot. So much, in fact, that we have a bunch of new Road Warrior Tips that can’t be highlighted in this issue so you’ll just have to go take a look by using the category link! As always, we value your feedback and hope you will take the time to leave a comment on the website or write in about article topics you would like to see us cover.
Editor, The Jury Expert