Running head: THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Effects of Free Will in the Justice System

Andrea Tovar
UTEP

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Abstract
The justice system is a crucial part of the American system, individuals are
constantly fighting for their freedom. The idea of the death penalty creates a very crucial
importance when speaking of the justice specifically in Texas. With a society that believes that
individuals should be punished due to their actions the system is constantly questioned especially
due to the high stakes. However with doubts of the belief in free will dilemmas have arisen of
blame and how individuals should be punished have arisen. This paper will discuss the true
relationship of free will characteristics with the justice system. The characteristics that are
discussed include conservatism, moral responsibility, and the idea of jus world belief.
Keywords: Free Will, Just world belief, conservative, justice system

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Effects of Free Will in the Justice System

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy free will is the capacity to
choose a course of action from among various alternatives. This specifically targets the choices
individuals believe they make daily. However, there has been endless amounts of evidence
proving that free will is only an illusion that the brain creates to allow for humans to function
appropriately. The basic chemicals that make up our bodies and minds have no free will they
usually follow the laws physics therefore debunking the idea of choice or faith (Crabtree). With
this evidence new issues have begun to arise such as moral responsibility. If individuals were no
longer held accountable for their actions then who or what would be responsible? The lack of
free will causes the issues of the law system to arise. In a society which believes that the
punishment depends on the level of crime, the lack free will affects the way convicts are seen
and how they are treated. Furthermore, this paper will analyze these three questions:

What is the relationship between conservative thinking and free will among Texas

Adults?
What is the correlations between moral actions and free will
What is the role that free will has in the Texas justice system among the
individuals making decisions, such as jurors and judges?
Methodology

The primary research presented in the article was an interview with Noe Baez, a Law
Enforcement high school teacher and retired policeman. He graduated from the University of
Texas at El Paso with a Bachelors degree in law enforcement. He served in law enforcement for
20 years, in which he was a part of SWAT and the gang unit. His knowledge as a primary source
allowed for a firsthand experience of how a court room conducts and how opinions hinder or
help the defense. The interview was conducted on March 9th, 2016 through email. He answered

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

ten questions such as Do you believe that the justice system is fair to criminals on trial? to
which he answered Yes, they take into account all the evidence that they [the lawyers] presented
to them [the jury]. He provided the level of conservatism that he would rate himself and also
stated his views when it came to free will. This was taken into consideration while writing the
paper.

What is the relationship between conservative thinking and free will among Texas Adults?
The way individuals think and behave themselves go hand in hand. Discovering whether
there is a correlation between conservative thinking and free will exhibits the type of actions that
are encouraged into the community. In a study conducted by Jasmine M. Carey and Delroy L.
Paulhus they wanted to analyze whether there was any types of links when it came to political,
religious, or just-right beliefs (131). They conducted two different studies the first participants
were students, and the three variables that they tested among the participants where just world
beliefs, right wing authoritarianism, and religiosity (Carey, Delroy, & Paulhus, 132). All of
these variables are tied back to conservative thinking and its correlation with the belief of free
will. They found that all three did in fact have a positive correlation with the belief of free will.
With this finding it is fair to say that conservative thinking and free will does have a strong
connection.
With 39% of the Texas population having more of a conservative view this correlation
affects it greatly (Newport, 2015). In a survey conducted by YouGov on June 30th through July 1st
they found that 61% of republicans tested believed in fate. Fate directly refers to free will, or in
other words the idea that individuals choices affect their life. With Texas being a republican state
it is included in this statistic, exhibiting that fate is strongly believed in. The poll also took into

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

account the demographic of the individuals surveyed, the south averaged 52% when asked if
they believed in fate (YouGov, 2015). The south consist of sixteen states, out of those sixteen
Texas is included therefore it is also included in this statistic. The correlation among both free
will and conservative thinking is very prominent in Texas. Therefore the community is affected
by the beliefs that tie back with free will.
As stated before actions are based on the beliefs of individuals. The study that was first
mentioned exhibited that there was in fact a link between free will and conservative thinking,
however the reason that this is important can be seen in the study Subjective correlates and
consequences of belief in free will. This study explored what the effects of believing in free will
and conservatism can cause in an individual. There were correlations found such as a positive
correlation in gratitude it also gave the participants a greater meaning to life when believing
that free will existed (Crescioni, A. W., Baumeister, Ainsworth, Ent, M., & Lambert, 403).
Without this balance of free will there wouldnt be any goals or motivation to continue with life
according to the findings in the study. This ties back to the question due to the specific factors
that free will and conservative thinking cause. While they are both linked the study exhibits the
feelings that are expressed.
What is the correlations between moral actions and free will?
Homo sapiens are not only controlled by physics as explained previously, they are also
controlled by moral responsibilities. Some of these responsibilities would things such as not
stealing, or hurting others because its wrong. Without free will there is no moral responsibility
states Peter Van Inwagen, here is where the question presented comes into play. In a study
conducted by Carrie Figdor and Mark Phelan they studied the relationship between free will and
moral responsibility and if they are somewhat needed in order to make sense. They first tested

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

predictability, or in other words the act of believing in free will (Figdor, & Phelan, 608).
However, unlike other studies they didnt want the participants to be swayed by adding any type
of deterministic language in the questions that they provided them (Figdor, & Phelan, 608). They
found that while free will and morality does affect one another there isnt a direct link. The
participants tended to agree that people lacked free will in this vignette, though they agreed that
they were still morally responsible (Figdor & Phelan, 614). Figure one exhibits the mean
agreement between the belief of free will and moral responsibility. The instance in which the
participants agreed that free will doesnt depend on moral responsibility can be seen on line 4 in
Figure 1.

Figure 1: Mean agreement with free will and moral responsibility attributions for Neuroscience*Earth condition: mean moral
responsibility assessment: 4.25; mean free will assessment: 3.56 (Dashed line marks midpoint.) (Figdor & Phelan, 616).

The effects shown from this study exhibit that moral responsibility has nothing to do with
free will however it is embedded deep within us further guiding the actions that we take. Helen
Steward has a different approach to this idea of moral responsibility and free will. She states that
while there arent any direct links to moral responsibility and free will, there is a need for the
connection among the two. The reason being fairness- the basic intuition being that it is simply
not fair to hold an agent morally responsible for u-ing, say, when she simply could not have done
other than u (Steward, 140). With this Steward states that the belief of free will is a must due to

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

the possibilities that give moral responsibilities. Fairness ties back with free will due to the
choices that are taken in order to continue to live life without any moral repercussions. When
comparing this with the previous study which exhibits that individuals who believe that although
free will doesnt exist an individual can still be accountable for its actions, Steward believes that
the idea of fairness plays a huge role when determining the importance of free will. There might
not be a link with both of them however human beings need both of these ideals.
This idea is also backed up by Gregg D. Caruso who cites Wagner. The fact that the
sense of agency is illusory doesnt mean that its any less important since it still guides our
subsequent behavior (Caruso, 2013, 164). Caruso believes that free will might be real or it
might not however the belief in it allows for society to function appropriately. Furthermore the
idea of believing in in free will is not linked to moral responsibility however the belief of both
are crucial to ones behavior.
This way of thinking does guide individuals into believing that what is right should be
praised however when discussing punishment individuals skew towards the harshest punishment.
This belief that bad people deserve bad things cause for the society to be heavily judgmental
according to Gregg Caruso a philosophy professor. While in theory judging a bad person sounds
like the right thing to do Dr. Caruso is against this idea. He poses the example of victim blaming
within the community due to this phenomena. With the example of rape victims he explains that
people rationalize these types of events by blaming the victim for what happened to them
(Caruso, 7:00). Furthermore, this relates back to the topic because it exhibits the effects of
linking both moral responsibility and free will.

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

What is the role that free will has in the Texas justice system among the individuals
making decisions such as jurors and judges?
In order to understand the question above there has to be an overview of how the court
system operates. The main focus will be jury and how exactly they could convict an individual.
Usually juries are selected by the lawyers, the lawyers analyze whether the individual would be
useful to their case or not. This process is called Voir dire which is French for to speak the
truth (Stewart, 2015). The process caters to the jurors, and gives them an environment that
allows for them to speak freely whether it is for or against the defendant. There are rules for
every judge and as a lawyer those must be recognized first in order to keep the jury happy and
continue to choose it freely.
The steps of choosing a jury exhibit how crucial they are to the court. While not all cases
require or use a jury they do have some type of influence. This is seen in large cases such as the
O.J. Simpson case, the Michael Jackson Case, and many other famous court cases. The lawyers
in these cases really considered the jury, they took the time to choose each individual that would
help them throughout the case. However, not all juries are reliable. According to Noe Baeza, a
law enforcement teacher, states everybodys biased he also adds in that a lot of people are
unclear about the law therefore affecting their decisions (Baeza, 2016).
While the jury doesnt usually give the type of punishment, they do give punishments
during capital punishment cases. What this means is that they have the ultimate say when
sentencing an individual to death. In Texas specifically the jury has an immense pressure when
convicting a criminal. Due to the death penalty theres a moral responsibility when convicting a
criminal. As previously discussed moral responsibility is not linked with free will, however when
discussing the death penalty this type of responsibility is enhanced. Roger J. R. Levesque

THE EFFECTS OF FREE WILL IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

discusses how the death penalty affects the attitudes of the jurors in his book (Lavesque, 2006,
300). He mentions data which studied 916 jurors who served 257 sentencing-phase capital
juries in 11 state (Lavesque, 2006, 300). They concluded that death-penalty opinions are critical
to the deliberation in capital trials. With premature opinions of the individual in question they
found that 60% of these individuals favored imposing the death penalty. According to
Lavesque these individuals tended to be more convinced of the correctness of their view than
those favoring life sentences. This information ties back to the primary question due to the
belief that individuals have a choice.
The first way in which the data ties back to the question is through conservative thinking.
As previously discussed conservative thinking links back to the idea of free will. While
conservative thinking has many characteristics, one of the crucial aspects that link back to this is
just world beliefs. Lavesque states that individuals where more convinced with their
correctness by this he means that their beliefs of those in question werent convinced by the
evidence, instead they were convinced because they believed it was right. Depending on the case
the evidence shown exhibits just world belief does in fact decide the fate of the defendant
without any reasoning.
Legal-authoritism or the tendency to engage in anti-libertarian thinking and specifically
and focuses on beliefs related to the court system exhibits that free will is extremely prominent
within the justice system. According to Lavesque, when tested individuals with this characteristic
constantly judged an individual harsher, they would often times favor the death penalty no matter
what the individual looked like or said (Lavesque, 2013, 299). This way of thinking exhibits
what retired police officer Baeza witnessed firsthand in the courtroom. Baeza states that while
the courtroom attempts to be as fair and understanding when convicting an individual there are

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10

still biases. Depending on what the individual did the probability of those in the jury to favor the
death penalty is greater.
With this in mind Vexen Crabtree poses the main concern when discussing the role of
free will and the justice system. Do not forget that those who deliver justice also do not have a
choice. Punishment is determined by the action of the miscreant and by the action of the judge;
but we are no freer in our choice to stand for justice than they are for misbehaving (Crabtree,
The illusion of choice: Free will and determinism). All of the factors that affect an individual is
ultimately voided if free will is not real, without determinism, there is no social justice
(Crabtree, The illusion of choice: Free will and determinism). This ultimately affects all the
decisions partaking within the court, whether individuals believe that it is fair or not.

Conclusion
The justice system in Texas has the power to sentence an individual to their death
depending on the gravity of their actions. This is mirrored with the way many Texas citizens see
those individuals in question. With 4.4 percent of the world population incarcerated in Texas,
questions and ideas as to how to fix it arise. Free will is one of the questions that is debated
concerning the justice system. Some believe that while free will may not be proven to be real or
not there is still moral responsibility that should be taken into account therefore sentencing those
individuals that behaved incorrectly be punished (Steward, 140). While others believe that the
abolishment of the idea of free will, while humanizing prisoners will create a better justice
system (Caruso, 9:25). Taking different methods of handling the justice system can favor for a
better outcome to the future. Nonetheless it does affect those making the decisions, and
sentencing the punishment that is seen as fair.

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References
Baeza, N. (interview, 2016)
Carey, J. M., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). Worldview Implications of Believing in Free Will and/or
Determinism: Politics, Morality, and Punitiveness. Journal Of Personality, 81(2), 130-141
Caruso, G. D. (2013). Exploring the illusion of free will and moral responsibility. Retrieved
March 20, 2016.
Crabtree, V. (2015, July 23). The illusion of choice: Free will and determinism. Retrieved
February 12, 2016, from http://www.humantruth.info/free_will.html
Crescioni, A. W., Baumeister, R. F., Ainsworth, S. E., Ent, M., & Lambert, N. M. (2016).
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Figdor, C., & Phelan, M. (2015). Is Free Will Necessary for Moral Responsibility?: A Case for
Rethinking Their Relationship and the Design of Experimental Studies in Moral
Psychology. Mind & Language, 30(5).
Levesque, R. J. (2006). The psychology and law of criminal justice processes [Ebook]. Retrieved
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Mele, A. (2015). Free will and moral responsibility: does either require the other?. Philosophical
Explorations, 18(3), 297-309
Moore, P. (2015, July 6). YouGov Poll [PDF]. YouGov.
Newport, F. (2015, February 6). Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana Most Conservative States.
Retrieved March 22, 2016, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/181505/mississippialabama-louisiana-conservative-states.aspx

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Steward, H. (2008). Moral Responsibility and the Irrelevance of Physics: Fischers Semicompatibilism vs. Anti-fundamentalism. Journal Of Ethics, 12(2)
Stewart, A. M. (2015). Pick Me! Techniques to Uncover Juror Bias During Voir Dire. Woman
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