Research shows that judges and other decision-makers often weigh a defendant’s expressions of remorse as highly valuable when estimating character and future behavior during the legal process, particularly during sentencing. Yet assessing remorse in court is a subjective process that is heavily influenced by the backgrounds of decision-makers and defendants, which may lead to the development and influence of implicit bias. This could lead decision-makers to potentially misread and discount a defendant’s true feelings of remorse as disingenuous. This phenomenon, known as remorse bias, can lead to adverse outcomes for some defendants in the legal system, especially for those with personal characteristics that are commonly socially stereotyped or quite different from the backgrounds of decision-makers. This webinar provides judges with an overview of the concept of remorse bias in the legal system, including its potential impacts on decision-making and its implications for the law. Based on the presented research and knowledge, it will also provide judges with recommendations surrounding assessing remorse in court settings.

Presenter: Dr. Colleen Berryessa, Associate Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University Newark. Dr. Berryessa joined the faculty at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice in 2018. Her research examines how psychological processes, perceptions, attitudes, and social contexts influence the criminal justice system, particularly in relation to courts, sentencing, and forms of punishment broadly defined.