Authors: Macaulay Gould, Chelsea Romney, Andrew Moss
Mentors: Chelsea Romney
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Attorneys play an important role in protecting the rights of the defendant and maintaining fair courtroom outcomes. This project compared self-reported fairness between court customers with and without an attorney representing their case. 372 Provo City Justice Court customers reported their perceived fairness in a 10-item survey, validated by national court assessment tools. Statistical analysis was performed, and a linear regression model revealed no association between legal representation and fairness. This indicates that both groups reported the same level of fairness, regardless of attorney representation. While evidence suggests that court customers with an attorney may receive better outcomes and less jail time, this was not reflected in court customers’ perceived fairness. We suggest a court navigator be available to court customers, so they can better understand how fairly they are being treated.