NCJ Number
79958
Date Published
1981
Length
222 pages
Annotation
All aspects of the experience of serving as a juror are described, and major criticisms of the jury system are considered.
Abstract
The material presented is drawn from research, extensive interviews, and the author's own experience as a juror. A brief history of the jury system traces it from its roots in ancient Greece through the early European jury systems to the contemporary jury system in America, where jurors are given more decisionmaking power than in any other major nation. The nature and role of the grand jury and the petit jury in civil trials are briefly considered, but the major focus of the presentation is the petit jury in criminal trials. Chapters consider who a jury is chosen, what the court expects of a juror, what jurors may expect from a trial, the attorneys' summations and the judge's charge to the jury, how jurors deliberate and reach their verdict, and what jurors may expect when their verdict is delivered (sentencing) and after the trial is over. Major criticisms of the jury system are examined under the topics of imbalances in representation, controlling the voir dire, the less-than-12-member jury, nonunanimous verdicts, videotaped trials, jury sequestration, and the quality of jury performance. Events of hypothetical and actual trials are recounted to illustrate aspects of the jury experience, and jury deliberations are dramatized. Although this book is intended for anyone interested in a better understanding of the American jury system, it is designed primarily as a guide for prospective jurors. A bibliography has 20 listings, and a subject index is provided.