NCJ Number
100802
Date Published
1986
Length
72 pages
Annotation
This Florida study assessed the impact of attorneys' wearing robes in jury trials on the trial atmosphere and jurors' perceptions of attorneys.
Abstract
As an experiment, Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit (Dade County) required attorneys in jury trials to wear robes from June through August 1985. Forty-eight jurors in 7 robe trials during this period were mailed questionnaires, and 53 jurors in 8 nonrobe trials were mailed the same questionnaire. Thirty-four jurors in each group returned usable questionnaires. A total of 19 robe trial attorneys and 15 nonrobe trial attorneys returned usable attorney questionnaires. Robe jurors preferred judicial robes to other forms of attorneys' dress, and all jurors preferred uniform court dress. Robe jurors rated attorneys professional court conduct more highly than nonrobe jurors. Many robe attorneys favored the atmosphere of robe trials more than that of most other trials. Based on these findings, the report recommends that the experiment be granted permanent status, that the project be expanded to additional circuit courts, and that the project be further evaluated after another year. Questionnaires, tabular data, and 13 footnotes.