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"A crusading legal scholar exposes the powerful psychological forces that undermine our criminal justice system--and affect us all Our nation is founded on the notion that the law is impartial, that legal cases are won or lost on the basis of evidence, careful reasoning and nuanced argument. But they may, in fact, turn on the temperature of the courtroom, the camera angle of a defendant's taped confession, or a simple word choice or gesture during a cross-examination. In Unfair, law professor Adam Benforado shines a light on this troubling new research, showing, for example, that people with certain facial features receive longer sentences and that judges are far more likely to grant parole first thing in the morning. In fact, over the last two decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have uncovered many cognitive forces that operate beyond our conscious awareness--and Benforado argues that until we address these hidden biases head-on, the social inequality we see now will only widen, as powerful players and institutions find ways to exploit the weaknesses in our legal system.



About the Author

Adam Benforado

Adam Benforado is a professor, writer, and lawyer. Conducting novel experiments and developing existing findings, Professor Benforado's research is focused on uncovering the hidden forces that drive our legal system.A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, he served as a federal appellate law clerk and an attorney at Jenner & Block, before becoming a law professor at Drexel University. He has published numerous scholarly articles, and his op-eds and essays have appeared in a variety of publications including the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Legal Times. His first book, Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice, will be released on June 16, 2015.He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and daughter.



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