Legal Jargon Increases Guilty Verdicts, Reduces Trust in Judicial System, Study Finds

Legal jargon increases guilty verdicts, reduces trust in judicial system, study finds

Jurors grappling with complex legal jargon are more likely to vote guilty while coming away less confident in their own performance and the judicial system, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Communication Research.

Legal jargon increases guilty verdicts, reduces trust in judicial system

Jurors grappling with complex legal jargon are more likely to vote guilty while coming away less confident in their own performance and the judicial system, according to a new study. “When jurors are struggling to process legal language, they vote guilty more often,” said Olivia Bullock, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Florida’s College of Journalism […] The post Legal jargon increases guilty verdicts, reduces trust in judicial system ap…

Complex Legal Language Boosts Guilty Verdicts and Erodes Trust in Justice

Jurors’ comprehension of legal language has long been recognized as a critical factor influencing the perceived fairness and effectiveness of judicial processes. In a groundbreaking study spearheaded by Dr. Olivia Bullock, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, new empirical evidence reveals that the complexity of legal jargon not only impacts juror verdicts but also fundamentally underm…