Creating and Transferring Knowledge on Guilty Pleas

创建和转移有关认罪的知识

• 批准号: 1025925
• 负责人: Allison Redlich
• 金额: $ 17.5万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1025925&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Creating; Transferring; Knowledge; Guilty; Pleas

Guilty pleas, which are the near-exclusive means of conviction for juvenile and adult defendants, must be entered knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. The primary methods to determine whether these requirements have been met are through oral plea colloquies and written tender-of-plea forms. Despite their daily, widespread use and importance in safeguarding due process, almost no research has been conducted on these plea materials. The present research will address three questions: 1) Are defendants across differing states and age groups presented with similar components of plea materials and age-appropriate levels of understandability? 2) How are decisions to plead guilty influenced by plea understanding, guilt/innocence, age, and plea value? and 3) How do the rationales underlying plea decisions, regardless of the decisions themselves, differ by these factors?To answer the first question, state and county-level tender-of-plea forms will be obtained, and subjected to detailed content and comprehensibility analyses. The second and third research questions will be addressed via a controlled laboratory study. Juveniles and adults will partake in a study in which guilt/innocence and plea value (comparatively good vs. fair deal) will be manipulated and adjudicative competence and plea understanding will be measured. The main outcome is willingness to plead guilty. Justifications behind plea decisions will also be examined by age, understanding, and condition. Theoretical and practical knowledge will be gained about the situational and dispositional factors that influence plea decision-making. Researchers will provide insight into whether the content of plea materials is complete and comprehensible (and whether this differs by locale and age), the factors that can influence plea decisions and rationales, and the circumstances under which individuals take responsibility for acts they did and did not commit. Findings can have broad implications for juvenile and adult defendants, attorneys, scholars, and students. As social science is becoming more common in criminal courts, knowledge gained from this research has the potential to influence practice and policy, educate jurists, and safeguard rights.

认罪是青少年和成年被告几乎唯一的定罪方式，认罪必须是在知情、明智和自愿的情况下进行的。确定这些要求是否得到满足的主要方法是通过口头答辩和书面答辩书形式。尽管它们每天都被广泛使用，在保障正当程序方面也很重要，但几乎没有人对这些认罪材料进行过研究。本研究将解决三个问题：1)不同州和年龄组的被告是否具有相似的认罪材料成分和与年龄相适应的可理解性水平？2)认罪的决定如何受到认罪谅解、有罪/无罪、年龄和认罪价值的影响？以及3)无论判决本身如何，抗辩决定的基本原理如何因这些因素而不同？为了回答第一个问题，将获得州和县一级的认罪书，并进行详细的内容和可理解性分析。第二个和第三个研究问题将通过对照实验室研究来解决。青少年和成年人将参与一项研究，在这项研究中，有罪/无罪和认罪价值（相对良好与公平交易）将被操纵，审判能力和认罪理解将被衡量。主要的结果是愿意认罪。辩诉决定背后的理由也将根据年龄、理解力和身体状况进行审查。将获得有关影响认罪决策的情境和性格因素的理论和实践知识。研究人员将深入研究认罪材料的内容是否完整和可理解（以及这是否因地区和年龄而异），可能影响认罪决定和理由的因素，以及个人对他们所犯和未犯的行为负责的情况。调查结果可能对青少年和成年被告、律师、学者和学生有广泛的影响。随着社会科学在刑事法庭上变得越来越普遍，从这项研究中获得的知识有可能影响实践和政策，教育法学家和维护权利。