Category Archives: Jury structure and reform
Ethnic bias in voir dire: More evidence of a widespread problem
A recent L.A. Times story picked up a preliminary report from U.C. Berkeley on who gets excluded from juries during voir dire in California. Here’s a quick summary: The report examined, among other things, nearly 700 cases decided by the … Continue reading
Suing to protect jurors’ right to serve
This lawsuit is a great example of advocacy for the rights of citizens to be considered for jury service. In an article for The Appeal, Kira Lerner explained: Mississippi District Attorney Doug Evans was hit with a proposed class action … Continue reading
The implications of Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado: Two competing perspectives
Written by Ethan Paul, undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University The Civil Jury Project at the NYU School of Law seeks to examine and explain the causes and consequences of the rapid decline in the use of the jury in civil … Continue reading
Sonia Sotomayor Reflects on Civil Jury Trials, Arguing They are Uniquely Empowering, Unifying, and Just
Written by Ethan Paul, undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University As the Senate considers the qualifications of a new prospective Supreme Court justice (after the GOP stonewalled Obama’s final nominee), we’re looking back a year to when NYU’s Civil Jury Project held … Continue reading
NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project
Written by Ethan Paul, undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University In December 2016, the NYU School of Law launched the Civil Jury Project. This new initiative seeks to examine the rapid decline in the relevance and use of the jury trial in … Continue reading
Jury Duty in an Online World
Written by Ethan Paul, undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University Following a jury trial held in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemons,Terry L. Wilson, 22, was convicted of premeditated murder and firearm possession for his involvement in the May 2013 shooting death … Continue reading
Anonymous juries: a troubling development
Written by Ethan Paul, undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University Earlier this month, New York City attorney Bobbi C. Sternheim filed court papers on behalf of her client, Minh Quang Pham, urging the judge to reject the government’s demands … Continue reading
Florida Supreme Court affirms the power of the jury
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court helped secure the power of the jury in the U.S. by requiring Florida courts to give juries, and juries alone, the power to judge the key facts in death penalty cases. Previously, juries’ findings … Continue reading
But who will guard the guardians? On county prosecutors, grand juries, and indicting police officers
With the passage of another week, there’s another case of a grand jury failing to indict a police officer who killed another African-American citizen, Eric Gardner. In the New York case, the coroner ruled the death a homicide and the … Continue reading
On juries, grand juries, and Ferguson, Missouri
As outrage builds about the failure to indict the officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the work of the grand jury itself. This blog focuses on criminal and civil … Continue reading
Jury and Democracy Blog 