Juror Bias In Court

The jury system of a trial is an essential element of the democratic process. It attempts to secure fairness in the justice system. Traditionally, the jury system has been viewed as a cornerstone of common law procedure. However, the use of the system of trial by jury is on the decline. Today, its use differs, depending on whether (a) it is a civil or criminal matter, and (b) in criminal matters, whether it is a summary or an indictable offence.

The play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose demonstrates how biases can affect jury duty. A bias is a prejudice in favor of a particular group, person, or thing resulting in unfairness. This play gives readers an example of how biases influence the thoughts of many. Each juror is biased in their own way, whether it is race, age, or gender. These bias’ prevent people from seeing the truth to a side of a story. The twelve jurors must determine the fate of the eighteen year old boy without leading their biases in different interpretations of the evidence. Biased stereotypes tend to combine with the tendency to repent information proving evidence. More times than not the ones who are biased do not realize it. They proceed to input their conscience

Racial disparity in the sentencing process of the criminal justice system also exists because of racial jurors. To eliminate the suspensions of racial disparity of racial jurors the jury will select at least one African-American to serve for the jury. A percentage of African-Americans oppose capital punishment (Tabak, 1999, p. 6). Prosecutors commonly discriminate against African-Americans during challenges of discretions and blatantly abuse the powers of prosecutors. Juries predominantly use more Whites in every trial is inappropriate on the levels of the criminal justice system. Americans have rights to a trial by jury of peers and has the right not to exclude minorities in the selection of a jury. Excluding minorities in a jury of an individual’s peers is a violation of an objective and fair trial for a defendant.

In chapter 8 of Adam Benforado Unfair, Benforado explains how a judge’s mind can be effected from a bias perspective. There are two types of judge’s, an umpire judge who calls cases as they are through his little black book of rules, and a regular judge who bases their cases off of personal experiences and have clouded minds making mistakes that those who work in the Supreme Court do not notice. If data had been collected from jury trials, hidden biases would have been uncovered sooner but not that biases are visible in our court system, changes need to be made. Benforado makes it clear that questions arise for judges such as how does one know for sure where bail should be set, whether a photograph of the defendant is unfairly prejudicial,

For those who do make it to trial a crucial step to having a fair trial is to have an unbiased jury, before the trial begins the prosecutor, judge, and defense attorney interview members of the jury pool in a process called voir dire. During voir dire the attorneys are given an unlimited amount of challenges for cause, which helps eliminate people who show a bias for one side or the other, for example the defendant’s sibling would not be allowed to serve on the jury because they are too closely related and would have a

In this paper I will provide an analysis of a jury trial; my analysis will focus on the right of the defendant. I will articulate how a defendant 's rights at trial can be assured when it comes to The defendant’s right to a speedy trial, the defendant’s right to an impartial judge and the defendant’s right to an impartial jury.

Despite the efforts of lawyers and judges to eliminate racial discrimination in the courts, does racial bias play a part in today’s jury selection? Positive steps have been taken in past court cases to ensure fair and unbiased juries. Unfortunately, a popular strategy among lawyers is to incorporate racial bias without directing attention to their actions. They are taught to look for the unseen and to notice the unnoticed. The Supreme Court in its precedent setting decision on the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is the first step to limiting racial discrimination in the court room. The process of selecting jurors begins with prospective jurors being brought into the courtroom, then

The goal of the American Justice system is to remain unbiased. One way we can achieve unbiased justice is through the jury system. When you are selected for jury service, you must plead to only judge the case based on information presented in court. Judges also appoint jurors who have not formed or expressed opinions about the case (document f).

With jury bias we examined that the perspective taking, victim impact statements and race of the victim had no main effects with ps > 0.26 and no significant interactions either with ps > 0.64.

On one hand many critics argue that the American jury system is no longer a good idea. On the other hand, some may disagree and say the American jury system is still a good idea. According to this view, one can readily agree that the American jury system gives the people a say in what is relevant to today. “The role of jury service in promoting self-governance and civic participation...the United States Constitution viewed jury service as a critically important feature of self-governance and enshrined [guaranteed] the right to serve on juries in the Seventh Amendment” (Document C). While the essence of John Weiser is that the jury system promotes civic participation, such a stance is invalid because their judgement can be clouded. Therefore, even though the American jury system does have its benefits, the jurors choice whether the convicted should be punished can be

“Justice is the opposite of arbitrariness. It requires that where two cases are relevantly alike, they should be treated in the same way.”- Justinian (Miller, 1.3). A study conducted by the National Registry of Exonerations found that African Americans are falsely convicted of murder up to seven times more than that of Caucasian Americans (Gross, p.4). Statistics such as the one stated above expose the U.S Justice System for the racist system it is. One solution to help prevent racism in the U.S justice system is to correct racial discrimination in the jury pool. Although juries are created to give unbiased court decisions, racial discrimination and profiling still is extremely prevalent; to solve this problem, the jury pool selection process should be required to incorporate a specific percent of African Americans in strict relation to population demographics of the area the trial is taking place.

Juries exists in the criminal trial to listen to the case presented to them and, as a third, non-bias party, decide beyond reasonable doubt if the accused is guilty. For the use of a trial by juror to be effective, no bias should exists in the jurors judgments, the jurors should understand clearly their role and key legal terms, and the jury system should represent the communities standards and views whilst upholding the rights of the accused and society and remain cost and time effective.

“Common people” means the jury can be made of people rich or poor, educated or ignorant, wise or not. Regardless of economical, religious, or social stature, people trust the news—But, should they? The jury may come to court with their vote already subconsciously, or not, instilled in their minds. Hengstler states that, as of now, “with respect to balancing First and Sixth Amendment rights and values under our system, the answer is not readily apparent.” He closes the article by presenting a challenge for others to find an answer that is suitable to conform to the new millennium’s ever growing technological advancements.

There are many court cases that have had issues regarding an impartial trial and that has led to something called a Batson Challenge. A Batson Challenge is an objection to the validity of a peremptory challenge, on grounds that the other party used to exclude a potential juror based on race, ethnicity, or sex (www.law.cornell.edu/batsonchallenge). Three are three steps to a Batson Challenge. First, the defendant must show sufficient

R v Young (1995) where the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial of a man