NCJ Number
113808
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1988) Pages: 333-352
Date Published
1988
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Two studies are described which analyzed citizens' perceptions of the criminal jury and their preferences for 6-member or 12-member juries operating under unanimous or majority decision rules.
Abstract
In the first study, a telephone survey of 160 adults randomly selected from the Evanston, Ill. telephone directory asked respondents to evaluate alternative jury structures in the abstract. Study two asked 96 Northwestern University undergraduates to evaluate jury structures for a hypothetical trial in which they were either the defendant or the victim in a crime. Jury size and decision rule were related to ratings of procedural costs in both studies. Severity of the crime also moderated procedural evaluations. Respondents in study one preferred juries to judges and favored the 12-person unanimous jury when a serious crime was involved. In study two, subjects seemed to trade off procedural cost and thoroughness of deliberation as a function of the seriousness of the crime. The strongest independent predictor of desirability for jury procedures was procedural fairness. Respondents in both studies were very supportive of the jury as an institution. Tables and approximately 40 references. (Author abstract modified)