The letter versus the spirit of the law: A lay perspective on culpability

Stephen M. Garcia, Patricia Chen and Matthew T. Gordon

Judgment and Decision Making, 2014, vol. 9, issue 5, 479-490

Abstract: The letter of the law is its literal meaning. Here, the spirit of the law is its perceived intention. We tested the hypothesis that violating the spirit of the law accounts for culpability above and beyond breaking the mere letter. We find that one can incur culpability even when the letter of the law is not technically broken. We examine this effect across various legal contexts and discuss the implications for future research directions.

Date: 2014
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