Study title

Examination of the gap between Dutch judges and the public in terms of preferred severity of sentences. It focuses on one particular explanation usually given for the gap: the lack of case-specific, detailed information on the part of the general public. Our specific focus will be on the evaluation of two hypotheses: 1. The general public reaches the same sentencing decisions as judges do when both groups are given exactly the same detailed case file of a specific criminal case. 2. When members of the general public consider a concise newspaper report of a specific criminal case, sentencing decisions will be much harsher than when they are handed the full case file.

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