TY - JOUR
T1 - Juror comprehension and public policy
T2 - Perceived Problems and Proposed Solutions
AU - Ellsworth, Phoebe C.
AU - Reifman, Alan
PY - 2000/9
Y1 - 2000/9
N2 - Laypersons, the media, and many legal scholars tend to attribute problems in the jury system to the dispositions of individual jurors and to recommend reforms in jury selection procedures and relaxation of the unanimity rule. Social scientists view problems as a consequence of the structure of the jurors' task and recommend reforms in trial procedures. Reforms recommended by both groups are reviewed and evaluated. After years of apathy, the legal system has proposed, and in some jurisdictions implemented, a variety of reforms, most of which are based on the social science perspective that the problem is not due to bad jurors but to unnecessary procedural obstacles to high-quality decision making. These reforms are described in the final section of the article.
AB - Laypersons, the media, and many legal scholars tend to attribute problems in the jury system to the dispositions of individual jurors and to recommend reforms in jury selection procedures and relaxation of the unanimity rule. Social scientists view problems as a consequence of the structure of the jurors' task and recommend reforms in trial procedures. Reforms recommended by both groups are reviewed and evaluated. After years of apathy, the legal system has proposed, and in some jurisdictions implemented, a variety of reforms, most of which are based on the social science perspective that the problem is not due to bad jurors but to unnecessary procedural obstacles to high-quality decision making. These reforms are described in the final section of the article.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034561267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/1076-8971.6.3.788
DO - 10.1037/1076-8971.6.3.788
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0034561267
VL - 6
SP - 788
EP - 821
JO - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
JF - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
SN - 1076-8971
IS - 3
ER -