Sample

Sample, William

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

29 February 2017

Are Juries Effective at Achieving Justice?

What is the purpose of the jury?

How are biases prevented from a jury?

How does a jury reach a verdict?

How does one become eligible to participate in a jury?

What influences a jury?

Works Cited
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What is the purpose of a jury?

1. The purpose of the jury is described by LawTeacher as to weigh up the evidence and to

decide what the true facts of the case are or what actually happened.
2. According to The Guardian, jurors are settling the fates of their fellow citizens in crown

courts up and down the country every day of the week, determining by their verdicts

whether or not defendants are guilty of the most serious crimes of violence and

dishonesty such as murder, rape, robbery, and fraud.

Juries must come up with a verdict and decide if someone accused of a crime is innocent of

guilty. They must use evidence presented to them and look at facts to decide their verdict.

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How are biases prevented from a jury?

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1. According to The Guardian, At the start of every criminal trial, the jurors take an oath to

try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence. They also mention

that there is no other part of the constitution that is so open to the public, where ordinary

people participate in decisions such immediate importance and wield real power.
2. Cheryl Thomas believes a bias may still exist with juries and said As a result, American

research showing White juror bias against non-White defendants has been relied upon to

suggest that juries here are likely to be racially biased.

3. Vallejos believes the jurors feel a great responsibility with their decision-making power

that prevents biases. She says How the jury is delivered and implemented is also

extremely important, not only because the juries should be replicable and participants

outputs should not depend on the personal attributes of the facilitator or educator, but

because explicit training, guidelines, and processes are in place, and a sense of

ownership, responsibility, and care are also part of the training.

4. Paul Mendelle says juries convict almost two-thirds of those they try, they convict more

than they aquit in rape, they do not exhibit any racial bias and they only fail to reach

verdicts in less than 1% of cases.

5. James Morton believes there may be an inescapable bias in juries because there is no

doubt that from time to time juries take likes and dislikes to witnesses, advocates and

even the judge but it would be interesting to find out how often and why (Morton 361).

Biases cannot be completely abolished but can be prevented by making jurors decide under

oath. There will always be likes and dislikes among the jurors and they will be impacted

differently by the information which they are provided.

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How does a jury reach a verdict?

1. LawTeacher describes the process to reach a verdict by saying the judge gives the

direction to the jury on the relevant law, which the jury has to apply to the facts of the

case in order to reach a verdict.

2. Paul Mendelle believes the juries make the right decisions on the evidence and come to

the right verdicts.

A verdict is reached by looking at the facts the jury is presented with and they usually make the

correct decision based information given to them.

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How does one become eligible to participate in a jury?

1. Law teacher says elgibility for the jury service used to depend upon the existence of the

property qualification, and the juries were criticized for being predominatly male,

middle-aged, middle minded and middle class which is probably why the system has

changed.
2. Vallejos says that there is explicit training, guidelines, and processes that are required

of jurors.

There are specific qualifications to participate in a jury and they must be informed and vetted to

be involved.

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What influences a jury?

1. Lawteacher believes the judge gives the direction to the jury on the relevant law and

has an impact on the jury during the trial.

2. According to Paul Mendelle, there is no other part of the constitution that is so open to

the public which means the constitution has an influence on the democratic processes

put into place of the jury.

There are many factors that may influence the jury including the way the judge handles the case

and how the information is presented to them.

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Works Cited

Mendelle, Paul. Why Juries Work Best. Liberty Central, Guardian News and

Media, 21 Feb. 2010,

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/21/juries-work-best-research.

Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.

Morton, James. "Juries." Journal of Criminal Law. 67.5 (2003). Print.

Thomas, Cheryl. Are Juries Fair? London, Ministry of Justice, 2010,

www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/research-and-analysis/moj-

research/are-juries-fair-research.pdf. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.

Vallejos, Elvira P, Kruakae Pothong, Stephen Coleman, Ansgar Koene, Chris J.

Carter, Ramona Statache, Tom Rodden, Derek McAuley, Monica Cano, Svenja
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Adolphs, and Claire O'Malley. "Juries." Acm Sigcas Computers and Society.

45.3 (2016): 84-90. Print.

"The Jury System." LawTeacher. LawTeacher.net, November 2013. Web. 27

February 2017. <https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminal-

law/the-jury-system.php?cref=1>.

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