Hungry judges less generous

A criminal's sentence could depend on how recently the judge has eaten in the US or Israel.

Researchers at Columbia University and Israel's Ben Gurion University observed 1,000 parole decisions during 50 courtroom days and found judicial decisions were a lot less lenient when the judge was feeling the rumbles of hunger.

They found that during every day of the experiment criminals were far less likely to be given parole as a morning or afternoon session wore on.

However, if sentencing took place right after breakfast or lunch the judge was more likely to be generous.