By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Defendants, and some plaintiffs, can have a source problem when it comes to legal persuasion. They’re already seen as morally questionable, and that makes whatever claims are coming from them already suspect. For defendants, they’re tainted because something bad happened and they’re “the accused.” And some plaintiffs also get that […]
Make Your Language More Personal and Less ‘Polite’ Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The U.S. midterm elections are now in the rearview mirror, with the ballots counted and the races — most of them at least — settled. But with a mixed result, it is no surprise that we’re hearing complaints from both sides about possible corruption, with liberals focusing on online misinformation,
Expect that Jurors Might Think the System is Rigged Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We all recognize the scene from a crime drama. Sometime late at night, under the dim lights of the state’s forensic lab, the results emerge from the sophisticated lab equipment: It’s a match! There is now no doubt whatsoever that we’ve found the killer. In the genre of criminal process
Measure Your CSI Effect Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Several years ago, I sat in a courtroom in Pennsylvania, assisting the defense in a capital murder jury selection. The process was involved, and potential jurors were interviewed one at a time after completing a comprehensive questionnaire. Naturally, we had scored all the questionnaires, so we had a very good
Avoid Juror Self-Sabotage Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: What a potential juror thinks is, of course, critical to the decision to keep or to strike. But that notion of “what she thinks” means, not just her opinions, but also the broader attitudes and dispositions that lie beneath the surface. That’s why the gold standard in voir dire is to
Consider the Complacent: Belief in a Favorable Future (BFF) Isn’t Always Your Friend Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Do you think you miss valuable information in voir dire? What about your friends and colleagues who are trial lawyers: Do you think they miss valuable information in voir dire? The first question is self-directed: It is asking about you. But the second question is what they call a “social-circle” question, asking about
Ask Social-Circle Questions Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: For those defending the reality of human-induced climate change, it is a familiar datapoint: A consensus of 97 percent of climate scientists supports the conclusion that our species is contributing to global warming and other effects on the climate. Climate change skeptics, of course, have their own consensus: a “Petition
Account for Social Facts Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: On October 1st, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concert attendees, injuring nearly 500 and killing 58. In response, the President offered condemnation and condolences, but said the event should not be politicized and offered no policy changes. Thirty days later, a man drove a rented truck through
Expect Empathy to be Driven by Similarity Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: There’s a quote most often associated with Martin Luther King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” When applied to historical progress, these words generally connote the comforting message that “Things get better.” Our recent history, however, seems dedicated to showing that if there’s an
Look for an Increased Perception that Racism Is a Major Problem Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: America is not yet post-racial, and the Nazis marching this week in Charlottesville, Virginia should be a reminder of that. Continuing tensions on race are played out in courtrooms as well. The as-yet unresolved issues of racial bias in jury selection provide one example. Race-based removals impact the criminal sphere more than