Public Reactions to Video Teleconferencing Technology in U.S. Immigration Courts

• In Event: Division 26: Law and Courts Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Video teleconferencing (VTC) is being used increasingly in United States courtrooms. VTC combines audio and video technology to facilitate communication and interaction between courtroom actors and individuals outside the physical courtroom space. The technology has become a procedural feature of the immigration court system, where it allows respondents to appear before immigration judges via television screen from a remote location, often a detention center. Procedural justice research suggests the use of VTC in legal procedures may undermine people’s perceptions of fairness, and consequently, their willingness to accept judicial decisions. But a body of work in judicial politics suggests exposure to the legitimizing symbols of law found in immigration courtrooms, like the gavel, may make people more accepting of unfavorable judicial outcomes. Using a fully-crossed factorial survey experiment, I examine the effects of exposure to VTC procedures, and whether these effects are conditioned by the symbols of law. Results demonstrate that exposure to VTC procedures has a negative effect on people’s perceptions of procedural fairness, and that this negative effect may be enhanced when individuals learn about VTC use in the context of a courtroom.

Author

• Devon Thurman, Emory University