As should be clear from the preceding 50 chapters in this book, the type and number of decisions made in the legal system are virtually endless. In the criminal context, the offenders decide to commit, the victims decide whether to report, and bystanders decide whether to report or cooperate. The police decide if and how they will interrogate. Suspects decide whether to cooperate with police and whether to accept a plea bargain. Attorneys decide whether to prosecute and encourage their clients to settle or negotiate a plea bargain. Psychologists decide if a defendant is competent, insane, and/or amenable to treatment. Jurors decide a verdict (and occasionally, as in death penalty trials, a sentence), and judges decide whether to admit evidence and what sentence a defendant should receive. In the civil context, people harmed decide whether to sue, and attorneys decide whether to take the case and what evidence to rely on. Judges make decisions throughout the civil litigation process, and both jurors and judges can make ultimate decisions (e.g., verdict, damages). Other decisions include legislators’ decisions on defining crime, social workers’ decisions on whether to take action against a parent who is under their supervision, parole board members’ decisions on whether a person in prison should be released, and so on.

The strength of the judiciary depends upon fair and impartial jurists who can make complex decisions while minimizing bias. This chapter provides an overview of how psychological processes can affect judicial decision-making at every stage of the judicial process, including decisions at pretrial hearings related to dispositive motions (e.g., motions to dismiss). The chapter begins with an overview of how judges might use heuristics (cognitive “shortcuts”) when making decisions, followed by discussions of how emotions, inferences, and implicit associations each can affect judicial decision-making. The chapter concludes with recommendations to expand judicial education on issues related to psychological science. For example, although many judicial education courses address implicit bias, research finds that the limited effectiveness and duration of these trainings warrant further study. Overall, we urge judicial educators to familiarize themselves with psychological research, expand course content, and offer an evidence-based educational approach that allows judges to apply lessons from psychology in their chambers and courtrooms.

Decisions made within the legal and criminal justice systems are often consequential, shaping the lives of individual people and providing a foundation by which people perceive, interpret, and understand justice. These decisions are made by individual people (e.g., judges, case workers, and attorneys) and collectives (e.g., juries, legislatures, and parole boards), and often have far-reaching implications. Together, they create a historical backdrop to how society views and comprehends current legal decision-making. This book provides a comprehensive understanding and detailed synthesis of legal decision-making research, examining theories and decision models and discussing applications to law, policy, and practice from a psychological perspective.