Exploring Legal Literacy Disparities: Homelessness and Misconceptions of Rights

• In Event: Insights from Justice-Involved and Unhoused Individuals

Abstract

Knowledge and the invocation of personal legal protections provided in the Bill of Rights serve as crucial checks on police and court power. However, misconceptions regarding what rights are afforded to whom, when, and exactly how these protections manifest in practice abound. Early findings from a pilot study suggest that homeless individuals tend to have higher levels of misconceptions regarding procedural criminal law (and, to some extent, substantive criminal law) compared to their housed counterparts. In other words, while previous studies have shown that legal knowledge regarding civil liberties tends to be more prominent amongst the poor, ethnic minorities, and those with previous contact with the legal system, this relationship appears to be mitigated by factors associated with housing precarity. This research details conclusions from in-depth interviews with people currently experiencing homelessness to better understand how individuals understand their rights when navigating interactions with police and courts, and how they come to learn and believe misconceptions regarding personal legal protections.

Author

• Amanda Pierson, University of Arizona