NCJ Number
198637
Journal
Judicature Volume: 86 Issue: 3 Dated: November-December 2002 Pages: 144-151,165
Date Published
November 2002
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article gives a report of Jury Summit 2001, the first national meeting for the community concerned with improving the jury system.
Abstract
In January of 2001, more than 400 judges, court administrators, citizens, attorneys, and academics met at Jury Summit 2001 in New York to discuss issues relevant to the United States jury system. The Summit was organized around two main themes: representativeness and communication. This article presents the ideas that were discussed at the Summit and presents a look at how some States have implemented improvements in their jury systems. Plenary addresses and panels were organized to discuss issues such as how courts can ensure that jury lists are accurate and inclusive and ways of randomly summoning jurors to duty. Voir dire techniques were discussed as well as methods of ensuring that all jurors who are called to duty are willing and able to serve. Among the other important topics discussed at this Summit were issues of jury education and comprehension of the process, communication between judges and jurors, and juror privacy. Media communication with jurors was discussed, as were pertinent issues involving trial procedures and jury instructions. Another interesting discussion centered on how jurors may communicate with witnesses during a trial. Some jurisdictions allow this practice and it was the opinion of many at the Summit that these communications should take place in written form, not orally. The article concludes with a look at what some individual States have done to improve the jury system. Among the States discussed were New York, California, Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, and Massachusetts. The overarching goal of the Summit was to leave participants with a renewed interest in preserving and adapting our jury system to meet the changing needs of American society.