Juries

50-State Survey of Jury Instructions on Internet and Social Media

Eric P. Robinson has recently published an article entitled Jury Instructions for the Modern Age in the Reynolds Courts and Media Law Journal.  This article takes a comprehensive look at all state and federal jury instructions that address the negative impact of the Internet and Social Media on jurors.  The article also  highlights specific cases in which jurors have conducted improper research and communications. Mr. Robinson's article will serve as very useful tool to practitioners, judges and those looking to improve the jury system.  

Jury News

London and Mail: Do courtroom therapy dogs unfairly sway juries with cuteness?

San Francisco Chronicle: Jurors to be told not to tweet under new law

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Judge rejects death-row inmate's bawdy 'gifts' appeal

Palm Beach Post: Witness' slaying leads to jury guards in Top 6 racketeering case

MSNBC.com: Rash of hung juries expensive for courts

22 WSBT: How's trial going? Ask the 'shadow jurors'

Update: Extending Batson to Sexual Orientation

Since this issue has received additional attention since last week, I am updating this blog post from Friday.

News Articles.

Time: How a Fight over Jury Selection Could Advance Gay Rights

Gayapolis: Should Jurors Be Dismissed for Being Gay?

‎This week the 9th Circuit heard arguments in United States v. Daniel Osazuwa.  This case involves a gay defendant who was convicted of assaulting a prison guard.  In his appeal, the defendant claims that his trial was flawed because the judge failed to grant his Batson challenge.  The Batson issue arose because the governement used a peremptory challenge to remove a lesbian from the jury pool. 

To date, Batson, at least on the federal level, has only been applied to race, gender and ethnicity not sexual orientation.   Previous attempts to extend Batson to sexual orientation have been unsuccessful.  However, the legal landscape has changed since those efforts.  Most significantly, the current administration now believes that sexual-orientation classifications should be reviewed at a heightened level of scrutiny as opposed to the lowest level of scrutiny (rational basis) which was used in the past.   With this change, it is quite possible that the Osazuwa case may lead to one more classification added to Batson.

For more information on this topic see the articles below and the government's brief here.

Care2.com (blog): Lesbian's Exclusion from Jury Duty Raises Legal Scrutiny Question

LA Times: Potential jurors shouldn't be dismissed for being gay, court told

Will the 9th Circuit Extend Batson to Sexual Orientation?

This week the 9th Circuit heard arguments in United States v. Daniel Osazuwa.  This case involves a gay defendant who was convicted of assaulting a prison guard.  In his appeal, the defendant claims that his trial was flawed because the judge failed to grant his Batson challenge.  The Batson issue arose because the governement used a peremptory challenge to remove a lesbian from the jury pool. 

To date, Batson, at least on the federal level, has only been applied to race, gender and ethnicity not sexual orientation.   Previous attempts to extend Batson to sexual orientation have been unsuccessful.  However, the legal landscape has changed since those efforts.  Most significantly, the current administration now believes that sexual-orientation classifications should be reviewed at a heightened level of scrutiny as opposed to the lowest level of scrutiny (rational basis) which was used in the past.   With this change, it is quite possible that the Osazuwa case may expand the reach of Batson.

For more information on this topic see the articles below and the government's brief here.

Care2.com (blog): Lesbian's Exclusion from Jury Duty Raises Legal Scrutiny Question

LA Times: Potential jurors shouldn't be dismissed for being gay, court told

‎

Jury News

Metrowny.com: Getting the scoop from jurors serves only one purpose

‎News and Observer: Judge amends order on jurors

‎Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii Public Required to Complete and Return Juror Questionnaires

Daily Telegraph: ‎‎Juries are at heart of justice system

CBC Olympics: Ont. court will decide if juries unfair to aboriginals

Judge-Jury Awards in Punitive Damages: New Law Review Article

Theodore Eisenberg and Michael Heise, Judge-Jury Difference in Punitive Damages Awards: Who Listens to the Supreme Court? 8 J. EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES 325-357 (2011).

Abstract:     

We analyze thousands of trials from a substantial fraction of the nation’s most populous counties as well as a smaller sample of less populous counties. Evidence from four major Civil Justice Survey data sets spanning more than a decade establishes that: (1) compensatory awards are strongly associated with punitive awards and (2) the punitive-compensatory relation has not materially changed over time. But (3) 2005 data suggest, for the first time, systematic differences between judges and juries in the punitive-compensatory relation. Despite claims that the Supreme Court’s State Farm decision changed the punitive-compensatory relation, we present evidence that the 2005 shift is not attributable to the State Farm case or to other possibly relevant likely factors such as the relative flow of personal injury cases to judges and juries, inclusion of 110 small counties in the 2005 data, or changes in the 2005 data coding. The judge-jury difference more likely turns on unobserved factors driving the selection of cases for adjudication before judges and jurors.