LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

Legally, handwriting is considered behavior in public as indicated by the US Supreme Court decision, United States v. Marat (1973). Therefore, handwriting analysis is protected from the Fourth Amendment's individual's privacy conditions as indicated by the US Supreme Court decision, United States v. Dionisio (1973). Commenting on publicly observed behavior is not an invasion of privacy as indicated by the US Supreme Court decision, United States v. Rosinsky (1977). The protection of the Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination privilege does not apply under these circumstances as indicated by the US Supreme Court decision, Gilbert v. California (1967). Ethically, the ability to analyze a person's writing without their knowledge violates their right to privacy. In the practice of graphology and as a legal precaution always obtain the writer's and, if applicable, the writer's doctor/psychologist's permission. Always state the analysis is an opinion. Personality assessment utilizing graphology is inadmissible in the Courts as indicated by the New York Supreme Court decision, Cameron v. Knapp (1987). But, a behavior profile obtained using the technical skill of a graphologist is admissible in the Courts as indicated by the US District (Criminal) Court, MA Docket No. 93-10291 (1995). Personality assessment by other methods is legally admissible by obtaining general psychological consensus for test validity. Presently, graphology does not have legally defined consensus among psychologists and among graphologists. However, many critics believe that no personality test has adequately, accurately, or scientifically proven validity in predicting human behavior or actions especially the complex traits of dishonesty and integrity. The detailed knowledge of available character traits cannot with 100 percent certainty predict its application. Behavior is determined by trait combinations, the graphic indicators, and is situation specific; a particular situation can alter the response. For example, the underlying traits or situation that characterizes suicide or financial success cannot be clearly and accurately defined. Graphologists have not demonstrated acceptable correlated validity using matching studies (judges matching behavior), using sorting studies (experts sorting into two categories), using rating studies (judges quantitatively ranking character traits), and/or using experimental studies (graphic indicators correlating quantitatively to personality traits). Studies that contain a large quantity of inter-relative and random variables and do not contain strongly contrasting characteristics will yield insignificant statistical correlation. An experiment based on extreme graphic indicators is recommended. The burden of proof for validity must fall on the handwriting analyst for generating the carefully designed and controlled experiment. Graphologists, scriptologists, graphoanalysts, and handwriting analysts usually offer lame-brained excuses for the negative experimental results that further damages legal validity. Unfortunately, statistical correlations that support validations are not sufficient by themselves to prove causality without additional verification and validation. Though handwriting speed, simplicity, line space, i-dot placement, and the figure eight for the letter g have experimentally correlated to intelligence, these traits are not sufficient to predict intelligence. The use of graphology to predict personality performance such as in employment and marriage is legally risky and unsupportable in the courts.

Proposed Research
There is a research project that is necessary for handwriting analysis before it can be accepted by the scientific community. An empirical research project that utilizes a method of extremes is recommended. Handwriting samples should be chosen with clearly defined and extreme graphic stroke structure indicators. The trait intensity is determined by the quality of the graphic stroke-structure pattern and its frequency of occurrence. An example of an extreme graphic indicator in a written sample is a very large inflated upper loop found in the majority of upper loop opportunities i.e. the initial loops in the letters b, f, h and l. This method of selecting only appropriate samples with extreme graphic indicators uniquely limits the sample size. Applying an acceptable personality test such as Cattell's 16PF to these subjects reduces random errors. Graphic indicators can be correlated to personality factors obtained from Cattell's test. In addition correlations of behavior traits to graphic indicators can also be performed. Limiting the written sample size to approximately twenty five to fifty and also limiting the number of selected graphic indicators to approximately ten to fifteen for each experiment is recommended to increase significant correlations. Results from previous studies that included the correlation of graphic indicators to Raymond Cattell's 16 Personality Factors yielded insignificant correlation. Handwritingpro conducted an experiment in 1972 that was similar to the studies presented by Dr. David Kimbal in 1970, "The Systematic Isolation and Validation of Personality Determiners in the Handwriting of School Children"and Dr. Raymond Wilburn Mann in 1961, "A Continuation of the Search for Objective Graphological Hypothesis". Unfortunately the samples used in these studies contained a large quantity of interrelated and random variables and did not contain strongly contrasting characteristics yielding unacceptable and weak statistical correlations. In hindsight, these three experiments tried to do too much. The recommended confined procedure is exactly what was utilized in empirically validating the traits presented in Handwritingpro's website but not in the correlation experiment. Behavioral traits were evaluated utilizing an extreme graphic indicator. Handwriting samples were chosen with clearly defined and with extreme graphic indicators followed by a discussion with the individual. These evaluations were supplemented with literature research. The salient portions of personality descriptions combined with the written samples containing the extreme graphic indicator can be found in the literature i.e. graphology books, newsletters and college theses. For example, text books that describe historical figures often provide written samples from different periods of their lives. Another example found in the literature is a doctors discussing their mental patients' behavioral history along with the changes found in their writing. In addition to the proposed research project, a theory must be presented to the scientific community for their evaluation similar to what is found on Handwritingpro's Theory webpage. Each trait identified in the glossary and working papers' WebPages was evaluated by Handwritingpro to corroborate the presented theory and vice versa.