Nina Lea Oishi

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Judging Debt: How Judges’ Practices in Consumer-Credit Court Undermine Procedural Justice

This Essay draws from on-the-ground interviews and procedural-justice theory to analyze judging practices in debt-collection courts. Current practices undermine courts’ fairness and legitimacy. This Essay argues that courts must prioritize procedural justice by adopting judging practices that consider unrepresented litigants’ circumstances and require a more active judicial role.