Law Commons^™

The Role Of "Stories" In Civil Jury Judgments, Reid Hastie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A brief review of psychological theories of juror decision making is followed by an introduction to "explanation-based" theories of judgment. Prior empirical studies of explanation-based processes in juror decision making are then reviewed. An original empirical study of jurors' judgments concerning liability for punitive damages is presented to illustrate the explanation-based approach to civil decisions.

Jury Trial Techniques In Complex Civil Litigation, Ronald S. Longhofer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Ronald Longhofer, an experienced litigator, discusses the challenges inherent in trying a complex civil case to a jury. He explores aspects of complex litigation that often impede jurors from effectively hearing such cases. In conclusion, he suggests litigation techniques which have proved successful in overcoming such obstacles and effectively translating complex evidence to jurors.

The Rise And Fall Of Affirmative Action Injury Selection, Avern Cohn, David R. Sherwood

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has historically experienced difficulty in achieving jury compositions that truly represented the surrounding community. In response, the Authors share their insight as to how the court instituted a "balancing" program. By reducing the number of white names in the jury wheel, the balancing program successfully incorporated more minorities into the jury system. The Authors further discuss the Sixth Circuit decision, United States v. Ovalle, which marked the end of the balancing program.

The Arizona Jury Reform Permitting Civil Jury Trial Discussions: The Views Of Trial Participants, Judges, And Jurors, Valerie P. Hans, Paula L. Hannaford, G. Thomas Munslerman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In 1995, the Arizona Supreme Court reformed the jury trial process by allowing civil jurors to discuss the evidence presented during trial prior to their formal deliberations. This Article examines and evaluates the theoretical, legal, and policy issues raised by this reform and presents the early results of afield experiment that tested the impact of trial discussions. Jurors, judges, attorneys, and litigants in civil jury trials in Arizona were questioned regarding their observations, experiences, and reactions during trial as well as what they perceived to be the benefits and drawback of juror discussions. The data revealed that the majority of …

The Interplay Of Race And False Claims Of Jury Nullification, Nancy S. Marder

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

After the verdicts in the OJ Simpson and Stacey Koon/Laurence Powell cases, many in the press explained the juries' acquittals as instances of jury nullification. However these were unlikely to have been instances of nullification, particularly because the jurors explained that their verdicts were based on reasonable doubt. One motivation for these false claims of jury nullification was the homogeneity of the juries-a largely African-American jury in the case of Simpson and a largely white jury in the case of Koon/Powell. Nullification became the term by which press and public attempted to discredit verdicts rendered by juries they distrusted. A …

Jury Trials In The Heartland, Stephen E. Chappelear

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Stephen Chappelear draws on his study of civil jury trials in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in Columbus, Ohio. He concludes that trial by jury results in justice. Despite the popular belief that juries are modern day Robin Hoods, empirical data suggests that their verdicts are lower than commonly believed.

Creating A Seamless Transition From Jury Box To Jury Room For More Effective Decision Making, Annie King Phillips

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Why am I writing here? I am not a judge or lawyer, and I may never be. I don't even play one on TV. In searching for an answer to this question, it came to mind that at sometime in everyone's life, there is a need to enter the court system-as a victim, offender, witness, court staff or juror. The interactions among these persons impact the effective administration of justice in our court system. Every two years for the past eighteen years (like the tick of a clock), I am summoned to jury duty at either the District of Columbia …

The Jury And Scientific Evidence, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

Read court decisions and commentaries from 100, or evenfive years ago, and you will find that experts and scientific evidence were causing problems then just as they are causing problems now. I do not think that Daubert, Kumho Tire, or any change in a rule of evidence will keep expert scientific testimony from being a difficult area for the legal system. Yet we must still ask: "What are the best terms on which to deal with scientific experts, and how can weimprove the system?"

Juries, Hindsight, And Punitive Damage Awards: Failures Of A Social Science Case For Change, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

In their recent Arizona Law Review article entitled What Juries Can't Do Well: The Jury's Performance As a Risk Manager,' Professors Reid Hastie and W. Kip Viscusi purport to show that juries are likely to do a poor job in setting punitive damages, largely because jurors cannot avoid the influence of what is called "hindsight bias," or the tendency to see the likelihood of an event higher in retrospect than it would have appeared before it happened. In particular, they argue that hindsight bias and other cognitive biases undermine the utility of jury-set punitive damage awards as risk management devices. …

Regulating Doctors, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

Alawyer today can hardly speak to a doctor--or even be treated by one-without being assailed by lawyer jokes. These jokes go well beyond good-humored badinage and pass the line into venom and gall. They reflect, I think, the sense many doctors today have that they are embattled and endangered, cruelly subject to pervasive and perverse controls. This is puzzling, almost to the point of mystery. Doctors have long been the American profession with the greatest social prestige, the greatest wealth, and the greatest control over its work. Indeed, what other profession has been as all-conquering? One may need to go …

The Worst Jury Argument I Ever Made, Alex Sanders

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Decline Of The “Little Parliament”: Juries And Jury Reform In England And Wales, Sally Lloyd-Bostock, Cheryl Thomas

Law and Contemporary Problems

Lloyd-Bostock and Thomas take a historical look at the English jury and place the jury and jury reform in the context of the English legal and political system.

The Canadian Criminal Jury: Searching For A Middle Ground, Neil Vidmar

Law and Contemporary Problems

Vidmar discusses the history of the Canadian jury and develops a profile of the Canadian jury today. The law and rationale behind the procedures involved in the "Bernardo" trial are also described.

The Scottish Criminal Jury: A Very Peculiar Institution, Peter Duff

Law and Contemporary Problems

Duff describes and discusses the Scottish criminal jury. While the exact origins of the Scottish criminal jury are obscure, it is clear that it developed in tandem with, although in a different fashion from, its English counterpart.

The Civil Jury In America, Stephan Landsman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Landsman explores several questions about the function of the modern civil jury in America, including why juries have been given so important a place in the judicial process and how the jury ought to be constituted to carry ought its work.

Criminal Trial Juries In Australia: From Penal Colonies To A Federal Democracy, Michael Chesterman

Law and Contemporary Problems

The recent history of juries in Australia reveals an interesting clash between the endeavours of state and territory governments to reduce the costs associated with jury trial by various means and the determination of the High Court of Australia to reassert the traditional values and features of jury trial.

“Guardian Of Civil Rights … Medieval Relic”: The Civil Jury In Canada, W. A. Bogart

Law and Contemporary Problems

Bogart offers some explanations of why Canadian civil juries exist only at the margins by examining the availability of civil juries, empirical evidence regarding their use and cost in Ontario Canada and academic and policy debates concerning their role.

The New Zealand Jury, Neil Cameron, Susan Potter, Warren Young

Law and Contemporary Problems

In New Zealand, the recent history of the jury has been one of fairly steady decline. This is particularly so of the civil jury, which has become virtually extinct with little realistic prospect of revival.

The Jury System In Contemporary Ireland: In The Shadow Of A Troubled Past, John D. Jackson, Katie Quinn, Tom O'Malley

Law and Contemporary Problems

Jackson et al discuss the distinctive features of criminal trial by jury in Ireland, both north and south, to explain how the jury continues to survive within modern Ireland and how it also has managed to decline in significance.

Reviving The Criminal Jury In Japan, Lester W. Kiss

Law and Contemporary Problems

Kiss analyzes whether the readoption of criminal jury trials in present-day Japan would be feasible from cultural, societal and legal viewpoints in light of Japan's prior experience with a jury system.

Europe’S New Jury Systems: The Cases Of Spain And Russia, Stephen C. Thaman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Thaman compares the provisions of the 1993 Russian Jury Law with the 1995 Spanish Jury Law, focusing on the effect of their implementation and reintroduction of the classic jury system on current problems.

The American Criminal Jury, Nancy Jean King

Law and Contemporary Problems

King describes the American criminal jury, focusing on those aspects of the institution that distinguish it from juries in other parts of the world.

Jural Districting: Selecting Impartial Juries Through Community Representation, Kim Forde-Mazrui

Vanderbilt Law Review

Court reformers continue to debate over efforts to select juries more diverse than are typically achieved through existing procedures. Controversial proposals advocate race-conscious methods for selecting diverse juries. Such efforts, however well-intentioned, face constitutional difficulties under the Equal Protection Clause, which appears to preclude any use of race in selecting juries. The challenge thus presented by the Court's equal protection jurisprudence is whether jury selection procedures can be designed that effectively enhance the representative character of juries without violating constitutional norms.

Professor Forde-Mazrui offers a novel insight for resolving this challenge. Analogizing juries to legislatures, he applies electoral districting principles …

Sticks And Stones, Phoebe C. Ellsworth

Articles

I believe that research should be refuted by research. More and more of our scarce journal space is being taken up by attacks, rebuttals, and rebuttals to the rebuttals, often ending with a whimper of recognition that the adversaries were not so very far apart to begin with, and that the only way (if possible) to resolve the disagreement is through empirical research. Communication of scientific disagreement does not require a published article. Grant proposals and manuscripts submitted to refereed journals like this one are sent out to reviewers, who provide written evaluations that are communicated to the author. Papers …

Narrative Relevance, Imagined Juries, And A Supreme Court Inspired Agenda For Jury Research, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

This paper has its roots in Old Chief v. United States, a case the Supreme Court of the United States decided in 1997. I will begin by describing this case; then comment on its implications for the Supreme Court's conception of the jury, and conclude by examining the agenda one may draw from it for empirical jury research. Old Chief arose when Johnny Lynn Old Chief was charged not only with assault with a dangerous weapon and using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, but also with violating a law that precludes convicted felons from possessing …