Lecture 11 - The jury system

Question 1

Division of Labor: Judge and Jury

Answer 1

• Judge decides issues of law

* Jury decides issues of fact and applies law to the facts

Question 2

Judge can overrule a jury’s conclusion

Answer 2

• Civil law:

• conclusion about law -clearly erroneous.
• conclusion about facts- cannot be sustained by any rational view of the evidence

Question 3

Jury nullification (jury acquittal)

Answer 3

• A jury’s verdict of not-guilty in a criminal trial is not reviewable or appealable
Explanation: is the double jeopardy clause in the 5th Amendment

Question 4

Characteristic of Jury

Answer 4

a- Requirements - citizen, adult, mentally competent and able to communicate in English. Sources: voter registrations list and driver’s licenses list.
b- Exemptions- Important professionals and others whose service are thought to be valuable to society. Lawyers often exempts.
c- Avoiding jury service- failure to comply with a jury subpoena is contempt of court and is punishable by fine or imprisionment. Jurors may be excused for undue hardship or extreme inconvenience.
d- Jury is a matter of right :
- In civil cases of more than USD 20
- In crimes punishable by imprisionment
e- Jury is not available
- Crimes punishable by fine.
- Civil trials where claims is in equity no money claim (divorce)

Question 5

Jury selection - voter registration list and drivers licenses list

Answer 5

step 1- Random selection of members of venire (jury pool)

step 2- Selection of 12 unbiased jurors (plus 2 alternates) by process known (this process is called voir dire)

Question 6

Requirements of Service on a Jury

Answer 6

• Persons selected receive a summons to appears at the court.
• Failure is sanctioned as “contempt of court”.

Question 7

Criticism of the jury system

Answer 7

1- Inefficiency- Jury trials take longer than bench trials and drive up cost of litigation.
2- Capability- Decision making should be left to professionals trained in law.
3- Excessive damages- Confers excessive damage awards on undeserving plaintiffs - Robin Hood distribution of wealth.

Question 8

Inefficiency- Supporters of jury

Answer 8

o The problem of jury-imposed expense is not large because most disputes are settled and many cases that go to trial do not include a jury
o Discovery reforms and stipulations mean that action by a jury is focused on only those issues where the jury is needed

Question 9

Capability - Supporters of jury

Answer 9

o Given the division of labor between the judge and jury, the jury decides questions of fact, which does not require legal training

o Group decision-making is better than the decision-making of a single individual, even if that individual is trained in the law and very intelligent

o Judge-Jury comparisons lead to several observations:
 Judges and juries tend to reach similar conclusions
 If judges and juries reach different conclusions
1. The difference could be seen as different views of what justice requires in a case
2. The jury’s conclusion could be right and the judge’s conclusion wrong

Question 10

Excessive damages- Supporters of jury

Answer 10

o The difference between amounts awarded by juries and judges is, in fact, small
 Even when the difference is not small, the jury’s verdict may be the more just
o Cases in which juries award “excessive” amounts of money are statistically rare
o In some cases where juries award large sums, those awards are justified and therefore not “excessive”
o Juries provide benefits beyond “accuracy,” such as:
 Signaling the need for a change in the law
 Serving as a barrier between state power and the individual
 Serving as a body capable of making politically unpopular decisions without fear of retribution