Valerie Hans is an American legal scholar and psychologist.
[1] Hans holds a BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego (1973), an MA (1974) and a PhD (1978) in social psychology from the University of Toronto.
[3][4] Hans' area of study is on the jury system, conducting social science-based empirical studies on legal decision making, particularly focusing on jury decisions.
[6] Hans serves as a co-editor for the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies[7] and was the president of the Law and Society Association for a two-year term beginning in June 2015.
[9] Hans has appeared as a commentator in news publications and programs on the jury system and juror behavior during prominent public trials such as the Boston Marathon bombing trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,[10] and other prominent cases.