Episode 01: A Mile in His Moccasins - How Our Personal Judgment is Wrought with Bias and Blame
How we analyze people and circumstances depends on our frame of reference. Knowing this fact about ourselves, and others, isn’t much help in the abstract. After all, can we ever overcome another person’s bias and prejudgment?
Lawyers are often said to be purveyors of the ‘blame game.’ This gives too much credit. The reality is that most judgments begin with a frame of reference - the blame frame, as Harvard’s Jon Hanson and Kathleen Hanson have coined it. This is why dramatic changes in the cultural framework are often a misunderstood indicator of the outcome of both individual cases and of sweeping changes in the law. Consider such seismic events as marriage equality and the #metoo movement, both of which resulted from a fundamental change in the frame of reference.
So how does this all work — and what does it mean for lawyers and their clients when they set out to ‘get justice’? In this episode of Misjudged, we look at the forgotten and gripping case of Amelia Norman, and how events surrounding her trial not only changed the frame of reference in America, but served as an example of how cultural shifts can coalesce around a new narrative. As the case demonstrates, and as we discuss, when it comes to winning a lawsuit, understanding the public narrative, and applying it to the facts, can be as important as any single piece of evidence.
