Full Description
Discusses race-conscious jury selection and highlights strategies for achieving racially mixed juries.
Race in the Jury Box focuses on the racially unrepresentative jury as one of the remaining barriers to racial equality and a recurring source of controversy in American life. Because members of minority groups remain underrepresented on juries, various communities have tried race-conscious jury selection, termed "affirmative jury selection." The authors argue that affirmative jury selection can insure fairness, verdict legitimization, and public confidence in the justice system. This book offers a critical analysis and systematic examination of possible applications of race-based jury selection, examining the public perception of these measures and their constitutionality. The authors make use of court cases, their own experiences as jury consultants, and jury research, as well as statistical surveys and analysis. The work concludes with the presentation of four strategies for affirmative jury selection.
Contents
Preface
Table of Cases
1. INTRODUCTION TO RACIALLY MIXED JURIES
Racially mixed juries and jury verdicts
The significance of minority jurors in the jury box
Reform and its barriers
Conclusions
2. DEFINING AND MEASURING RACE AND RACIAL IDENTITY
Measuring and identifying race
Social deconstruction of race: Social elements and concepts
Reliability and validity of race as a measurement
Racial identity and ancestral backgrounds
Deconstructing race and the importance of affirmative action programs
Conclusions
3. RACIALLY MIXED JURIES AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Affirmative action in jury selection
The jury 'de medietate linguae' model
The Hennepin County model
The social science model
Public perceptions of racially balanced juries
Results
Racially diverse juries, racial quotas, and peremptory challenges
Conclusions
4. EUGENE "BEAR" LINCOLN AND THE NATIVE AMERICAN JURY: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN JURY SELECTION AND PEREMPTORY INCLUSION
People v. Eugene "Bear" Lincoln
Defense strategies to increase the likelihood of a racially diverse jury
Affirmative jury structures and peremptory inclusion
The need for progressive legislative and court action
Conclusions
5. THE SIXTH AMENDMENT AND THE RACIALLY MIXED JURY
Impartiality
The fair cross-section requirement
Jury of one's peers
Conclusions
6. SHORTCOMINGS OF PROCEDURALLY BASED REMEDIES: JURY REPRESENTATION FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS
The goal of random selection and the fair cross-section doctrine
Empirical checkpoints in jury selection
Jury representation from the beginning to the end of jury selection
Analyses and findings
Partial remedies and their impacts on jury selection
Final jury composition: Inequities, remedies, and future reforms
Conclusions
7. JURY NULLIFICATION AND THE MINORITY-DOMINANT CRIMINAL JURY: THE O. J. SIMPSON VERDICT AND ACQUITTAL BY RACE
Presumption of innocence, the burden of proof, and reasonable doubt
The Simpson jury and a hypothetical scenario
A hypothetical scenario: Results and findings
Jury nullification, racial identity, and legal concepts
Conclusions
8. JURY NULLIFICATION AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION JURIES
Jury nullification
Jury nullification and affirmative action juries
Jury nullification and criminal justice concepts
Judicial and legislative history of jury nullification
Conclusions
9. RACE AND THE AFFIRMATIVE JURY: CONCLUSIONS
The jury and the potential for democracy
Distinguishing features of affirmative action in jury selection
Conclusions
Appendix A: SURVEY AND DATA BASE INFORMATION
Community surveys (4 data sets)
College student survey (1 data set)
Jury panel survey (1 data set)
College student experiment (1 data set)
Census Information
Appendix B: METHODOLOGICAL STRATEGIES ON HOW TO DETERMINE AND MEASURE RACE IN COURTROOMS
Notes
Bibliography Index
