2026
Fessinger, M. B., Rath, H., & Wout, D. (in press). Juries are different: Racial differences in trust across legal institutions. Law and Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000665
Rico, G. & Fessinger, M. B. (in press). When the snitch flips: Mock jurors’ perceptions of recanted and inconsistent informant testimony. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-025-09779-x
Miller, Q. C., Fessinger, M. B., & Klemfuss, J. Z. (2026). An archival analysis of 326 child sexual abuse cases from the National Registry of Exonerations. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1555(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.70199
Fessinger, M. B., Katzman, J., Close, M., & Kovera, M. B. (2026). Interrogation tactics may have downstream consequences on innocent and guilty defendants’ plea decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 50(1), 56–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000635
Reed, K., Hanzelin, G., Gonzales, R. M., & Fessinger, M. B. (2026). The power of victim narrative: Eponymous legislation increases voter sympathy and support. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 32(2), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000476
2025
Gillespie, M.L., Fessinger, M.B., Beardslee, J., Randolph, I., Smith, C., IV, Cauffman, E. (2025). Differences in detection: Offending and descriptive profiles of boys with juvenile justice system and dual child welfare system contact. Journal of Criminology, 58(4), 608–628. https://doi.org/10.1177/26338076251333150
Fessinger, M. B., McAuliff, B. D., & Perillo, A. D. (2025). The state of open science in the field of psychology and law. Law and Human Behavior, 49(1), 54–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000592
2024
Fessinger, M.B., Randolph, I., Frick, P., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2024). Tell the truth? Identifying common sources and types of advice juvenile defendants receive when pleading guilty to their first offense. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 30(4), 421–431. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000439
Fessinger, M.B., McAuliff, B.D., Aronson, E.,* & McWilliams, K. (2024). Attorneys’ experiences, perceptions, and plea recommendations in child sexual abuse cases.
Law and Human Behavior, 48(1), 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000551
2023
Merriwether, E. P., Fessinger, M. B., Stolzenberg, S., Evans, A., & McWilliams, K. (2023). A preference for the proximate occurrence: Adults’ relative temporal judgments and interpretations of children’s judgments. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 29(2), 224–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000367
McAuliff, B. D., Fessinger, M. B., Perillo, A. D., & Perillo, J. T. (2023). Psychology and law, meet open science. In D. DeMatteo & K. C. Scherr (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197649138.013.5
Kovera, M. B., Fessinger, M. B. (2023). Prosecutorial misconduct. In D. DeMatteo & K. C. Scherr (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Law. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197649138.013.40
2022
Fessinger, M. B., & Kovera, M. B. (2022). From whose perspective? Differences between actors and observers in determining the voluntariness of guilty pleas. Law and Human Behavior, 46(5), 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000501
Katzman, J. A., Fessinger, M.B., Bornstein, B. H., & McWilliams, K. (2022). Waiving goodbye to youth: Jurors perceive transferred juveniles differently from adults but render similar verdicts. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 40(6), 835–858. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2601
Fessinger, M. B. & Bornstein, B. H. (2022). Emotional eyewitnesses and forensic questioning. In G. L. Schiewer, J. Altarriba, & B. C. Ng (Eds.), Language and Emotion: An International Handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110795486-029
Kovera, M. B., Katzman, J., Jones, J. M., & Fessinger, M. B. (2022). Science-based recommendations for the collection of eyewitness identification evidence. Court Review, 58, 130–140.
2021
Baker, M., Fessinger, M. B., McWilliams, K., & Williams, S. (2021). The use of note-taking during forensic interviews: Perceptions and practical recommendations for interviewers. Developmental Child Welfare, 3(1), 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/25161032211002187
Neuschatz, J. S., DeLoach, D., Hillgartner, M. A., Fessinger, M. B., Wetmore, S. A., Bradfield Douglass, A. B., Bornstein, B. H., & LeGrand, A. (2021). The truth about snitches: An archival analysis of informant testimony. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, 28(4), 503–530. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1805810
Hodges, H. J., Fessinger, M. B., Bornstein, B. H., Low, E. C., Viñas-Racionero, R., & Scalora, M. J. (2021). A loaded subject: Comparison of experiences, knowledge, and attitudes about firearms between a diverse male forensic psychiatric sample and a male community sample. Psychology of Violence, 11(4), 385–394. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/vio0000347
Fessinger, M. B., McWilliams, K., Bakth, F., & Lyon, T. D. (2021). Setting the ground rules: Use and practice of recommended ground rules in child forensic interviews.
Child Maltreatment, 26(1), 126–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559520910783
2020
Fessinger, M. B. & McAuliff, B. D. (2020). A national survey of child forensic interviewers: Implications for research, practice, and law. Law and Human Behavior, 44(2), 113–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000368
Wetmore, S. A., Neuschatz, J. S., Fessinger, M. B., Bornstein, B. H., & Golding, J. M. (2020). Do judicial instructions aid in distinguishing between reliable and unreliable jailhouse informants? Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(5), 582–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820908628
Hazen, K. P., Carlson, M. W., Hatton-Bower, H., Fessinger, M. B., Cole-Mossman, J., Bahm, J., Hauptman, K., Brank, E. M., & Gilkerson, L. (2020). Evaluating the Facilitated Attuned Interactions (FAN) approach: Vicarious trauma, professional burnout, and reflective practice. Child and Youth Services Review, 112, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104925
Fessinger, M. B., Hazen, K. P., Bahm, J., Cole-Mossman, J., Heideman, R. J., & Brank, E. M. (2020). Mandatory, fast, and fair: Case outcomes and procedural justice in a family drug court. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 16, 49–77. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11292-019-09361-6
Fessinger, M. B., Bornstein, B. H., Neuschatz, J. S., DeLoach, D., Hillgartner, M. A., Wetmore, S. A., & Douglass, A. B. (2020). Informants v. Innocents: Informant testimony and its contribution to wrongful convictions. Capital University Law Review, 48(2), 149–188.