The Verdict of Five out of Six Civil Jurors: Constitutional Problems

A criminal jury of fewer than 6 members and a jury in which 5 out of 6 can find a verdict were held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court for failing to meet the requirements of due process as mandated by the Fourteenth Amendment. In four states—Michigan is one of them—the 5 out of 6 jury is the standard civil jury. Two questions are raised: first, whether such a jury violates the Michigan state constitution; second, whether such a 5 out of 6 civil jury violates the federal Constitutiton even though the civil jury is not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.     

Real jurors' understanding of the law in real cases

A survey of 224 Michigan citizens called for jury duty over a 2-month period was conducted to assess the jurors' comprehension of the law they had been given in the judges' instructions. Citizens who served as jurors were compared with a base line of those who were called for duty but not selected to serve, and with those who served on different kinds of cases. Consistent with previous studies of mock jurors, this study found that actual jurors understand fewer than half of the instructions they receive at trial. Subjects who received judges' instructions performed significantly better than uninstructed subjects on questions about the procedural law, but no better on questions about the substantive (criminal) law. Additionally, jurors who asked for help from the judge understood the instructions better than other jurors. Since the results replicate previous research using simulated trials, this study provides evidence for the generalizability of earlier work to actual trials.     

Perceptions of older adult jurors: the influence of aging stereotypes and jury laws

ABSTRACT

The present study examined younger (18–30 years, N?=?100) and older adults’ (66–89 years, N?=?100) responses to a jury duty questionnaire assessing perceptions of jury duty, their capability to serve, and the capability of older adults to serve. We also explored perceptions of the senior jury opt-out law (a law that allows those over a certain age (e.g. 65 years) to opt-out of jury duty). We assessed why participants believe this law is in place and experimentally examined if informing older adults about this law impacted their jury questionnaire responses. Results demonstrated that older adults were significantly more likely to want to serve compared to younger adults; however, younger adults provided lower capability ratings of older adult jurors compared to older adults. Younger adults’ open-ended explanations for these ratings indicated negative aging stereotypes (i.e. in part, believing that older adult jurors are less capable because of declining health and biased beliefs). Older adults also had a significantly lower rate of agreement with the senior jury opt-out law. Although informing older adults about this law did not impact their perceptions of themselves as potential jurors, it did enforce more negative attitudes towards older adult jurors as a whole.     

“The Judge Didn't Sentence Me to Be Raped”: Tracy Neal v. Michigan Department of Corrections: A 15-Year Battle Against the Sexual Abuse of Women Inmates in Michigan

This research traces the history of Tracy Neal v. Michigan Department of Corrections, a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections that alleged the sexual abuse of women prisoners spanning more than two decades. The litigation resulted in combined jury verdicts of more than $30 million for the plaintiffs and a $100 million settlement that included extensive injunctive relief. This article examines the abuses and conditions suffered by female inmates in Michigan prisons, the court decisions, jury trials, and settlement. Drawing on interviews from several lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, the article provides an examination of the circumstances, discusses litigation strategy, and highlights lessons from Neal that could be relevant to civil rights scholars and advocates. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact and future implications of this case.     

Much Obliged: Volunteering,Normative Activities,and Willingness to Serve on Juries

Although compulsory, many people treat jury duty as voluntary. This article examines the conceptual and empirical links between participating in voluntary activity and stated willingness to serve on a jury. We also consider the role of engaging in other normative behaviors. Analysis of 1,304 US citizens in the Survey of Texas Adults showed an initial relationship between volunteering and willingness to serve, net of personal resources, prior jury service, and prosocial attitudes. However, indicators of normative activities (voting, contacting elected officials, keeping up with medical appointments, and avoiding bars) largely eliminated this relationship. People who volunteered some, but not too much, were more willing; an analysis of domains of volunteering showed that engaging in public service work predicted willingness. Results suggest that the public service and duty‐based nature of jury participation should be emphasized to understand willingness to serve and to consider novel ways to increase summons responses.     

“... By a jury of his peers” — The issue of multi-racial juries in a poly-ethnic society

Conclusion Thus the conclusion should be to introduce a wider measure of participation by ethnic minorities in the jury service, in that every jury, regardless of the defendant's race or creed, ought to be composed of an appropriate mixture of racial groups according to the distribution of those quotas in the sampling area. The execution of the selection procedure should be left in the hands of the administration and not given to the individual judge in order to avoid any conceivable misuse of judicial powers and to keep the legal system free from yet another issue which might unnecessarily kindle racially founded suspicion, distrust or even hatred with those members of society whose protection a multi-racial jury is designed to serve in the first place.I would like to thankMr. Geoffrey Mercer, Barrister, Exeter, for reading and commenting upon the first draft of the article, and for checking the English.     

Death penalty beliefs and jurors' responses to aggravating and mitigating circumstances in capital trials

Two studies explored the relationship between attitudes toward the death penalty and support for or rejection of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in a capital trial. Jurors serving on jury duty voluntarily completed questionnaires in the jury lounge. In Study 1, jurors strongly opposed to the death penalty were significantly more receptive to mitigating circumstances than were the remaining jurors. In Study 2, jurors who would have been excluded for their opposition to the death penalty under theWitherspoon standard were significantly less receptive to aggravating circumstances than were the other jurors. It is suggested that the present system of death qualification in capital cases results in biases against the interest of the defendant at all stages of the trial process—jury selection, determination of guilt, and sentencing.     

浅析人民陪审员制度——以其蕴涵价值为视角

现代陪审制度是基于在司法权力运行中实现人权与民主、限权与制衡理念而设立的。通过民众分享司法权,使民众和政府之间形成有效平衡,彰显民主。本文以陪审制度所蕴涵的价值理念为视角,探讨了我国人民陪审制度存废的相关问题,分析了现行人民陪审员制度的缺陷,进而提出了相应的完善措施。     

Juridic decisions

Pattern jury instructions have been criticized for being less than understandable to the average juror and thus for causing arbitrary juridic decisions. Two studies were conducted to establish whether these criticisms are justified and to find solutions to these problems. Both studies established the validity of the criticisms by demonstrating that the presentation of presently used Michigan negligence instructions is about as effective in helping jurors understand the laws as the presentation of no instructions at all. It was found that by rewriting these instructions in accordance with empirical knowledge of what elements affect perception, memory, and comprehension of language, their effectiveness was significantly improved. Furthermore, it was found that the presentation of instructions both at the beginning and at the end of a case would allow jurors a greater opportunity to focus their attention on relevant evidence and to remember it. The studies demonstrate the urgent need for jurisdictions around the country to improve the way jury instructions are written and delivered, if they expect jurors to reach verdicts in light of the law rather than in ignorance of it.     

Defendant-juror similarity and mock joror judgments

It was hypothesized that joror-defendant similarity would lead to greater leniency toward a criminal defendant when the evidence against that defendant was weak or inconclusive; but when evidence was strong, it was expected that this relationship would be reversed. In Study 1, religious similarity was found to be simply and positively related to evaluation of the defendant and leniency, a relationship unaffected by the strength of evidence. This pattern of results was attributed to (a) insufficiently strong evidence against the defendant and (b) the lack of anticipated jury deliberation, problems addressed in Study 2. In that study, when evidence was strong against the defendant, juror-defendant racial similarity did increase the likelihood of conviction, but only when jurors anticipated being in the racial minority in their jury. Implications of the findings for psychological theory and for voir dire were discussed.The authors wish to thank Howard Klein and Jane Stanfel for their assistance in data collection and analysis in Experiment 2, and the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions on an earlier draft.     

对我国陪审制的理性思考——从比较两大法系国家陪审制生存条件的视角

由于法律传统和人文环境的不同,陪审制在英美法系国家与大陆法系国家以不同的形式存在.英美法系国家实行的是陪审团制,而包括我国在内的大陆法系国家实行的则是参审制.我国不具备陪审团制生存的条件,而参审制式的陪审制的施行绩效又不如人意.面对这一现实状况,我们不能再进行简单的选择和取舍,而应该进行制度的重新架构.     

英美法国家科学证据的历史沿革评述

从18世纪到20世纪,英美法国家有关科学证据的法庭运用,所表明的基本思想是,将科学证据评价的事实问题,通过三种方法转化为法律问题,以此保证法官在科学证据评价中承担更多的审查义务,以减少陪审团在科学证据判断上出错的可能性。这三种法律转化方法分别是,专家资格审查、专家证言的形式审查、专家证言的实质审查。这在20世纪的美国审判中,表现得更为突出。     

英美法国家科学证据的历史沿革评述

从18世纪到20世纪,英美法国家有关科学证据的法庭运用,所表明的基本思想是,将科学证据评价的事实问题,通过三种方法转化为法律问题,以此保证法官在科学证据评价中承担更多的审查义务,以减少陪审团在科学证据判断上出错的可能性。这三种法律转化方法分别是,专家资格审查、专家证言的形式审查、专家证言的实质审查。这在20世纪的美国审判中,表现得更为突出。     

Roles of neighborhood race and status in the middle stages of juror selection

This study investigated impacts of neighborhood race, status, and stability on the likelihood that summoned citizens would appear at the courthouse for jury duty using a full year of geocoded summoning data from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (n = 256,204). A theoretical model based on jury selection models and the sociology of settlement patterns connected potential juror yield or turnout with neighborhood stability, and racial and status composition. Multilevel models using census block groups as neighborhoods and controlling for spatial autocorrelation found, as predicted, that yield varied significantly across neighborhoods, and was lower in lower status neighborhoods, less stable neighborhoods, more predominantly Asian neighborhoods, and more predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. As predicted by work on neighborhood integration, effects of African-American racial composition depended on the stage of neighborhood integration. Overall, the net effect of increasing African-American neighborhood racial composition was to increase yield. A significant spatial lag effect suggested localized dynamics operating beyond neighborhood boundaries.     

The representative jury requirement: Jury representativeness and cross sectional participation from the beginning to the end of the jury selection process

The paper specifically addresses the many ways in which the facially neutral procedures actually fail to secure representative jury pools. Although the Sixth Amendment's fair cross‐section requirement forbids systematic discrimination in the creation of the jury venire and panel, it does not guarantee that the criminal jury will in fact reflect an accurate cross‐section of the community. As a result, not only does the Court fail to focus on nonlegally recognized screening mechanisms and factors such as exemptions, excuses, failure to followup jurors, etc., may affect jury representativeness, but also the Court never examined cross‐sectional representation at the entirety of the jury selection processes, except jury panels and final juries.

The first section of this paper presents a brief overview of the constitutional law impacting impartial juries, especially addressing the fair cross‐section doctrine that is the focus of contemporary jury selection procedures. In providing empirical and systematic comparisons of jury participation at each of the distinct jury selection stages encompassing a general population, jury wheels, jury qualified pools, jury eligibles, jury panels, and actual trial jurors, the second section of this paper makes critical analyses of the cumulative effects of screening mechanisms in jury selection. The paper assesses jury compositions by looking at demographic, socio‐economic, and ideological profiles of prospective jurors, illustrating that those jury profiles do not necessarily reflect cross‐sectional representation of the community population at comprehensive stages of the jury selection process. The analytical findings show that unless some deep seated reforms are made to eliminate cumulative effects of selection biases and correct representative imbalances of jury wheels, qualified pools, jury panels, and trial juries, historically underrepresented groups such as racial minorities, the poor, and part‐time employees will continue to be underrepresented on juries, negating the public's shared responsibility for the administration of justice in one of America's most heralded democratic institutions.     

日本恢复刑事陪审团制度的动因及其合理性

近来,日本政府宣布将恢复和修改陪审法,建立陪审团制度,实现接近市民的司法.人们希望重新采用陪审团制度,以避免或尽量减少法官的错误裁判,并提升公众的司法信赖感.在陪审制度的类型选择上,日本政府面临英美陪审团制度和欧洲大陆混合法庭制度两种选择.在文化上,日本社会的等级制性质,对权威人物的高度信赖,日本人的团体意识及维持和谐的愿望,有利于陪审团制度的有效运行.在社会方面,日本社会的大多数人属于受过良好教育的、同质性的中产阶级,这有助于陪审团制度的功能与目标的实现.在法律上也没有阻止日本重新引进陪审团制度的障碍.因此,日本将会促成更可能是一种以英美模式为基础的陪审团制度.     

Without Peers

Abstract

This writing will, in two parts, trace the development of Anglo-American law in regard to women and jury service from the early Anglo-Norman jury to the present American system. In this long history, women were largely excluded from the public world of the legal system. As criminal defendants, they did not face a jury of their peers. The first part, contained in this edition, examines the limited participation of women in the legal system in medieval and early modern England, colonial America, and the new American nation ending with their entry into the public world and the victory of women's suffrage in the United States. Within this setting, this first section traces the evolution of trial by jury. The second part, to follow, will examine the twentieth century legal, and political, struggle for women's full participation in the American jury system.     

Korean citizen participation in criminal trials: The present situation and problems

As citizen participation in criminal trials was first introduced in 2008, it is advisable to keep the present form of an all-citizen jury system rather than introduce or adopt aspects of the Continental mixed tribunal system because the former system makes the best use of the meaning of Article 1 of the Act of Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials in Korea. Though previously professional judges participated in the deliberation process, under the current system, the new procedure should allow only jurors to engage in deliberations and render verdicts, with sentencing still left to professional judges. The new law should also eliminate a consent agreement required for a defendant in jury trial, thereby making jury trial mandatory for certain classes of heinous crimes like murder or even political crimes; juvenile cases, however, may still be excluded from jury trial. In addition, the exclusion right of the court should also be recognized, but the current comprehensive rule (Article 9 (1) (3)) should be eliminated. It is necessary for the jury verdict to have legal binding force such that the prosecutor cannot appeal the acquittal if the verdict was decided unanimously. Lastly, as for the use of victim participation programs, it is enough to simply allow victims to make statements as witness. This year, on March 6, 2013, the revised system of civil participation in criminal trials has been ready based on the evaluation of the current system by the Committee on Civil Judicial Participation, which was comprised of members from the judiciary, the academia, and civil organizations. The new amendment will be submitted to the National Assembly within this year.     

The jury: Social and psychological variables

The selection of a jury is an important phase of the American court system. Many lawyers believe that wise choices at this point may mean the difference between winning and losing a case. Various means of selecting jurors have been practiced by attorneys, and there seem to be among lawyers general impressions about the type of people best suited for certain cases. These ideas have most often concerned social, economic and psychological variables rather then genetic factors.The purpose of this study is to add to the limited body of knowledge in this area by identifying and testing some of these variables. The first step was to design a research instrument to gather significant data relating to the jury system. Included in this examination were both psychological and socio-economic information. Also incorporated into the study were questions designed to reveal the respondents’ jury backgrounds. Items sought to disclose how a juror perceived the trial, interacted with the group, and voted.After the construction of the research tool, a survey was made using it in one of the counties of Florida. The interviews were conducted to gather data regarding perceptions of jurors and test the research tool. The people chosen to be interviewed came from the venire furnished by the county clerk. Analysis of the information was conducted. Statistical tests of significance revealed that the people illustrated a strong support for the jury system and a relatively high degree of commonality of attitudes. Comparisons were done on groups voting guilty with those voting not guilty. Voting tests on national origin and income further supported a homogeneity of attitudes. The importance of a trial vote to testing jurors was found.This case study aided in identifying some plausible hypotheses and providing data on the relationship of variables that are of import to understanding the jury system.     

The Jury as a Translation of Democratic Participation and Political Conflict

In this response to Valerie Hans's Presidential address, I use her “legal translating” term to argue that the implementation of liberal democratic structures in new democracies opens new opportunities to translate the jury system into and onto new democratic societies. While policy makers have concerns about the strength and vibrancy of lay participation in the legal system, policy makers' decisions to adopt trial by jury are not always democratic. Nonetheless, the consequence of the translation of trial by jury furthers democratic development. Using Nicaragua, Mexico, and Russia as case studies, I suggest that one goal of policy makers who attempt to adopt trial by jury is to reduce the discretionary power of judges who remain from the prior government. Comparative trial‐by‐jury research can contribute more to our understanding of democratic development than prior research has indicated.