For the past few years, I have come across numerous reform measures to address the issue of jurors violating the judge’s instructions on using the Internet. The solutions put forth run the gamut from penalizing and investigating jurors to allowing questions by jurors. It is rare for me to come across any new proposals. However, I recently did in an article by Joel Cohen entitled Helping Juries to Better Reach Untainted Verdicts. In that article, Cohen, a criminal defense attorney, suggests requiring jurors “to be sworn and briefly asked a few questions each day…[to get] jurors - to more effectively appreciate the oath taken by trial witnesses.” According to Cohen,
“a personalized question and answer session under oath might well have an impact on jurors; perhaps when a juror knows form the outset that every day of the trial he or she will have a mirror held up to them, the path of least resistance will likely be to, in fact, adhere to the obligations of good citizenship that the daily oath demands."
While I am not sure about the practicality of Cohen’s proposal, I am glad to see that people are still trying to address the challenges of getting jurors to adhere to the court’s instructions on use and misuse of the Internet.
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