In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury... Amendment VII |
Session 1 (Jan. 16, 2008):
1. Origins of
the Jury System
---Hans & Vidmar,
"The Evolution of the American Jury" (from Judging the Jury)
---Duncan v Louisiana (US 1968)
2. Powers and Rights of the Jury
A. Deciding Facts
---Jury Center, "Jury's Power to Determine Facts"
B. Applying Law
---Jury Center, "Jury's Power to Apply the Law"
C. Jury Nullification
---Linder, Jury Nullification
---Note from a Jury to a Judge
---"Jurors Rise Up Over Principle" (Nat'l Law Journal, 1995)
---Jury
Center, Jury's Power to Disregard the Law"
---Fully
Informed Jury Association Website
---United States v Dougherty (D. C.
Cir. 1972)
---American Justice,
The Kervorkian Trial
---PBS, Frontline, Inside the Jury (video of actual jury deliberations)
---Optional:
A Famous Trial Case Study of Nullification: The Trial of John Zenger
(1735)
Session
2 (Jan. 23, 2008):
A. Juror Eligibility, Exemptions
& the Fair Cross Section Requirement
---Your Missouri Courts, "Juror Basics: Eligibility and Excusals"
---J.
Abramsson,
"Jury Selection and the
Cross-Sectional Ideal" (from We, The
Jury)
---Norris
v Alabama ("Scottsboro Boys")(US 1935)
(For
background see: The Scottsboro Boys Trial)
---Duren
v Missouri (1979)
---Overview
B. Jury Selection
---CBS, Enter the
Jury Room (jury selection in a criminal case)
(1) Jury Questionaires
---Jackson
County
Standard Juror Questionaire
---Pre-Trial Juror Questionaire in Michigan
v Kervorkian
---The
Rodney King
Beating Case: Sample Questionaire (from Blue's Guide to Jury Selection
(2005))
(2) Voir Dire
---Example of
Judge's Introduction to the Voir Dire Process
Session
3 (Jan. 30, 2008):
(3)
Scope of Questions and Due Process
--United
States v Dellinger (Chicago 7 case)(7th Cir. 1973)
---Ham
v South
Carolina (US 1973)
---State of
Connecticut v Barnes (Conn. 1988)
(4) Voir Dire Exercise
---Practical
Jury Selection Tips
---James McElhaney, "Make Limited Time for Voir Dire Count" (ABA
Journal)
---Sample Voir Dire Questions in a Civil Case
---Class exercise
in selecting a jury (materials)
Session
4 (Feb. 13, 2008):
C. Exemptions,
Excusals, and
Challenges for Cause
(1)
Conflicts
(2) Pre-Trial Publicity and Prejudgment
---"Challenges
for Cause," Randolph Jonakait (The American Jury System(2003))
---Patton
v Yount (US 1984)
D. Peremptory Challenges
(1) Number
---Ross v Oklahoma
(US 1988)
Guest speakers on jury selection
Session
5 (Feb. 27, 2008):
(2) Batson and
Progeny
(a)
Race-Based Exclusions
---Batson v Kentucky (US 1986)
---CBS, 48 Hours, Black Defendant and
White Jury
(b)
Sex-Based Exclusions
---J. E. B. v
Alabama (US 1994)
(c)
Other Impermissible Factors? (Religion? Sexual
Preference? Age?)
(d)
Neutral Reasons
---Purkett v Elem (US
1995)
E. The Art and
Science of Jury
Selection
(1) Demographics and the Jury
--Clarence
Darrow,
"How to Select a Jury" (Esquire
1936)
---Jury
Selection in the O. J. Simpson Trials
---Jury Selection Exercise: Select a Jury
(2) Community Surveys, Jury Consultants, and Mock Juries
---"The
Theme Development Study" (Starr-McCormick (2006))
---Stephen Adler, "The Wizard of Odds" (from The Jury (1994))
---Primetime, We, the Jury: Jury
Consultants
(3) Individual Differences and the Limits of Predicting Verdict
Preferences
---"Some Steps
Between Attitudes and Verdicts," Phoebe C. Ellsworth (from Inside the
Juror (1993))
Session
6 (March 5, 2008):
4. Trials from the Juror's
Perspective
A. Juror Privacy
---Brandborg
v Lucas (E. D. Tex. 1995)
--- Dallas Morning
News,
"Magistrate Clears Juror of Contempt"
---Newton Minnow, "Justice for
Jurors Too"
---CBS, 48 Hours, The Diana
Brandborg Case
B. Anonymous Juries
---"Judicious Use of Anonymous Juries" (American
Judicature Society)
---"Secret
Justice: The Growing Use of Anonymous Juries" (Reporter's Committee for
Freedom of the Press)
C. Sequestration
---Jury Center, "Sequestration"
---ABA Journal, "Sequestration
Little Used, Little Liked"
D. Making Sense of
Instructions
---ABA Journal, "Not
So Plain English: Jury Instructions Are Confusing"
---James McElhaney, "When Jurors Eyes Glaze Over (ABA Journal)
E. Juror Stress
---Minneapolis Star, "Jurors Felt Like They Were On Trial" (Oct. 9,
1998)
---CBS, 48 Hours, Jury Stress in a
Capital Case
Session 7 (March 12, 2008):
5. Jury Decision-Making
A. How Jurors Process Information
(1)
Heuristics
---Michael Saks &
Robert Kidd, "Human Information Processing and Adjudication: Trial by
Heuristics"
(2) Juror
Biases and
Preconceptions
---Linder,
"Juror
Empathy and Race" (Tennessee Law Review)(excerpt)
---James McElhaney, "Finding the Right Script" (ABA Journal
(3)
Processing
Through Stories
---"The Story Model
for Jury Decision Making," by Nancy Pennington and Reid Hastie (from
Inside the Juror)
(4) The
"Meter Model" of Juror Decision Making
---"Two Conceptions of the
Juror," Lola Lopes (from Inside the Juror)
Session
8 (March 19, 2008):
B. Deliberations: Getting a Different Perspective
---CBS, Enter the Jury Room
---Class exercise: serving as a
juror in a mock trial
C. Use of Impermissible Evidence
(1)
Visiting Crime and Accident Scenes
(2)
Impermissible Contact with Witnesses, Attorneys, or Bailiffs
---Parker
v Gladden (US 1966)
(3)
Surfing the Net, Consulting Reference Books, Reading Papers, Watching TV
---Your Missouri Courts, "Juror Conduct During Trials"
(4)
Conducting Experiments
D. Juror Misconduct
During Trials
---Smith v Phillips
(US 1982)
---Tanner v
United States (US 1987)
---ABC, Primetime, The Tanner Trial
---ABC Primetime, Juror Looks for Bribe
E. Impermissible Decision-Making
Techniques
(1)
Prayer, Astrology, and Tarot Cards
---Utah
v DeMille (Utah 1988)(prayer)
---Hutchinson v Laughlin (Ohio
1951)(astrology)
(2)
Flipping Coins
(3)
"Horse-Trading"
(4) Undue Pressure
---American
Justice: Jury Under Seige (Juror in Capital Case Says Didn't Vote
Guilty)
Session
9 (April 2, 2008):
(5)
Refusal to
Apply Law
---United
States v Thomas (2nd Cir.
1997)
F.
Jury Dynamics
(1) "Alpha" and "Omega"
Jurors
(2)
Evidence-Driven Juries & Decision-Driven Juries
---John
Guinther, "Jury Deliberations" (from The Jury in America)
(3) The Effect
of Jury Size and the Unanimity Requirement on Jury Dynamics
---Linder, Exploring Constitutional Law, The Sixth
Amendment Jury Right: What does it say about jury size and
unanimity?
(Read Williams v Florida
(1970), Apodaca v Oregon
(1972), Ballew v Georgia
(1978).)
Session
10 (April 9, 2008):
G. The Allen
Charge and Hung Juries
---Allen v
United States (1896)
---"Blasting the Jury With Dynamite"
---Kalven & Zeisel, "The Hung Jury"
---Optional
reading: "Are Hung Juries a Problem?" (Center for Jury Studies)
---CBS, Enter the Jury Room: Hung Juries
H. Jury Decision-Making in Capital Cases
---Valerie Hans, "The
Jury and the
Executioner" (from Judging the Jury)
---Lockhart
v McCree (US 1986)
I.
Jury Tampering
---New York
Times, "District Attorney Investigates Charges of Jury Tampering"
(4/1/96)
---CBS, Sixty Minutes,
Jury Tampering in the O. J. Simpson Trial
6. Grand Juries
---Wall Street
Journal, "Grand Jurors Have Unususal Role in the Clinton and Lewinsky
Inquiry"
---(Optional Reading: CNN, Transcript of Clinton's Grand Jury
Appearance)
---ABA, "Frequently
Asked Questions About the Grand Jury"
7.
Litigating in the Shadows of Juries
---Marc Galanter,
"Jury
Shadows:
Reflections on the Civil Jury and the ‘Litigation Explosion'"
---Greater Kansas City Jury
Verdict Service (sample issue)
---Class exercise: assessing the
value of a case
Session
11 (April 16, 2008):
8. The Jury in American Society
A. Do Juries Make Good Decisions?
---Kalven &
Zeisel: "The Basic Pattern of Disagreement Between Jury and Judge"
---Jason Krause, "Judge v. Jury: Forget What You Know About Who's More
Likely to Convict," ABA Journal (6/2007).
B. Is
the Jury System Too Expensive?
C. Juries and the Media
---United
States v
Cleveland (E.D. La. 1997)
D. Jury Reform
(1) The Active Jury: Jury Note
Taking and Questioning of Witnesses
---S. Friedland, "A
More Active
Jury"
(2)
Should Peremptory Challenges Be Abolished?
---Jeff Rosen, "Jurymandering: The Case Against Peremptory Challenges"
(The New Republic)
(3)
Should the Civil Jury
Be Abolished?
---"What's
a Blivet?"
---"The
Drowsy Dozen" (Esquire)
---Margolis
& Slavitt, "The Case Against Trial by Jury in Complex Civil
Litigation"
---George Priest, "Justifying the Civil Jury"