During my visit to the Lafourche Parish District Attorney 's Office, I heard a copious amount of information that proved to be interesting, surprising, and some of it familiar to what I already knew or had learned in class. The first speaker, Joe Soignet, assistant district attorney, gave me a sense of what actually happens in a court case, specifically the process of selecting a jury. I had an idea of how picking a jury goes because of stories from friends and family who had been called for jury duty. I knew from them that as long as you answer with very strong opinions you can get out of jury duty. What I learned in class, however, is that picking a jury can take a long time, the right to a jury trial is guaranteed by the 17th Amendment and He spoke about his current case, David Brown v. State of Louisiana, which was a homicide of a mother and her two daughters. It took 38 days to select a jury on this case and one of the very first questions they asked was the person’s views on the death penalty. He explained that many different questions are asked depending on the circumstances of the case. For example, for civil cases they may ask how jurors feel about on the job injuries and injuries in establishments if that is what the case is about. For criminal cases they may ask how they feel about police, have they been arrested, or if anyone in their family has been arrested? Picking a jury is hard because people have such strong opinions these days. He described the questioning and answers of a juror as “Witherspooning” a jury to obtain a death-qualified jury. This term comes from the U.S. Supreme Court case Witherspoon v. Illinois where the holding was that stacking the jury with only jurors who would choose the death penalty violates the sixth amendment because it is not an impartial jury or a cross section of the community. Through Witherspooning, jurors on opposite ends of the spectrum are not eligible to be on the jury. They look for jurors who fall in the middle of the spectrum where they are either not categorically opposed to imposing the death penalty or don’t believe that the Fontana is the Clerk of Court and in charge of election day. She is responsible for getting all the voting machines to voter locations and making sure all commissioners are at their proper locations. I learned that her office is self-funded and not through tax dollars. I was assured of false speculations of tampering of the voting machines and gained knowledge of what exactly happens during voting. The machines are read before and after each voting period. Votes are cleaned out at the beginning of each day and at the end of the day the number of voters on the machine should match the number of voters they marked in the system. Also the votes are put onto a state issued laptop that is not connected to the internet so hackers cannot access it. I am someone who is not quick to jump to speculations and accusing people or the government. I believe that voters hold all the power and if any scandals occur we have to understand that we put these people into power. The tour of the Clerk of Court office was also impressive knowing that pretty much all the records of anyone and everything in the parish was there in that
The American Jury system has been around for quite some time. It was the original idea that the framers of the constitution had wanted to have implemented as a means of trying people for their illegal acts, or for civil disputes. The jury system has stood the test of time as being very effective and useful for the justice system. Now it has come into question as to if the jury system is still the best method for trials. In the justice system there are two forms of trials, one being the standard jury trial, where 12 random members of society come together to decide the outcome of something. The other option would be to have a bench trial. In a bench trial, the judge is the only one deciding the fate of the accused. While both methods are viable
There are hundreds of Americans who are selected for jury duty every day. Just like the characters many of them believe jury duty is a major conflict in their lives. They may say they do not have time to participate, which may be true, but the law will make sure you have time. As always, life and time keep going, and nobody wants to miss it. No one prefers to sit in court when they can be doing something productive but it is not going to kill them. Everyone deserves to have a jury hear them and surely they would want that for themselves.
This chapter is mainly devoted to the jury selection process and how it is taken care
Despite the efforts of lawyers and judges to eliminate racial discrimination in the courts, does racial bias play a part in today’s jury selection? Positive steps have been taken in past court cases to ensure fair and unbiased juries. Unfortunately, a popular strategy among lawyers is to incorporate racial bias without directing attention to their actions. They are taught to look for the unseen and to notice the unnoticed. The Supreme Court in its precedent setting decision on the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is the first step to limiting racial discrimination in the court room. The process of selecting jurors begins with prospective jurors being brought into the courtroom, then separating them into smaller groups to be seated in the jury box. The judge and or attorneys ask questions with intent to determine if any juror is biased or cannot deal with the issues fairly. The question process is referred to as voir dire, a French word meaning, “to see to speak”. During voir dire, attorneys have the right to excuse a juror in peremptory challenges. Peremptory challenges are based on the potential juror admitting bias, acquaintanceship with one of the parties, personal knowledge of the facts, or the attorney believing he/she might not be impartial. In the case of Batson v. Kentucky, James Batson, a black man, was indicted for second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the selection of the jury the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike out all of the four black potential jurors, leaving an all white jury. Batson’s attorney moved to discharge the venire, the list from which jurors may be selected, on the grounds that the prosecutor’s peremptory challenges violated his client’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to have a jury derived from a “cross-section of the community”(People v. Wheeler, 583 P.3d 748 [Calif. 1978]). The circuit court ruled in favor of the prosecutor and convicted Batson on both counts. This case went through the courts and finalized in the U.S. Supreme Court.
As one of the seven jury deliberations documented and recorded in the ABC News television series In the Jury Room the discussions of the jurors were able to be seen throughout the United States. A transcript was also created by ABC News for the public as well. The emotions and interactions of the jurors were now capable of being portrayed to anyone interested in the interworkings of jury deliberations. The first task,...
... of the juror’s and their sentencing or decision making in our study but further research could be carried out solely into how political attitude could also influence the jury-decision making.
The questions should be shaped around the individual’s views and also his or her ability to think analytically. Nevertheless, without these important questions, an individual may not qualify for the job. For example, Juror #10, the Garage Owner was an individual who was prejudiced against the defendant. Juror #10 was quick to agree that the defendant is guilty because of his personal view on the defendant’s color and where he lives. By, incorporating critical thinking questions, this may assist to find individuals who do not let their own personal views cloud their judgement and their decision
In the United States, jury trials are an important part of our court system. We rely heavily on the jury to decide the fate of the accused. We don’t give a second thought to having a jury trial now, but they were not always the ‘norm’.
Statement of Facts: The issue of underrepresentation in a jury can certainly have a negative impact on criminal justice topic as a whole. The underrepresentation can certainly lead to an impartial jury. The underrepresentation can certainly lead to thoughts of racism and prejudice in the criminal justice society. “A racially homogenous jury pool can have a harmful impact
A jury system inquires fairness in a court case. A jury is “A group of citizens called to hear a trial of a criminal prosecution of a lawsuit, decide the factual questions of guilt or innocence or determine the prevailing party (winner) in a lawsuit and the amount to be paid, if any, by the loser” (Law.com Legal Dictionary 2014). As a jury member they are obligated to tell the truth and give an honest response. The jury system randomly selects 12 people for each court case. Once you are 18 years old and registered you can be selected for jury service. There are two categories of people who cannot serve and that is people who are excluded from the jury roll and who are exempt from jury service (NSW Government 2014). Those who are excluded are people with criminal convictions and who hold high positions in public office. Those exempted are due to their employment (NSW Government 2014). As a jury member you are expected to dress appropriately, be honest, and give fu...
Famous writer Robert Frost stated, “A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.” While selecting a competent lawyer is important, in the court of law, the process of jury selection is easily one of the most important factors. While many elements are considered during the process of jury selection, the most valuable is the use of psychology. Psychology is used by lawyers during the process of jury selection to choose the best possible jurors to decide the fate of their client. Psychology can be used in many different ways such as voir dire, persuasion, and research.
juror including race and sex. Part of the reasoning behind the right to a jury
There is no greater example of government “of the people, by the people, for the people” than the right of trial by jury. The jury is a slice of The People—not mere representatives of The People, but literally The People—whose vital role was to be the ultimate finder of fact and of law. We agree that the right to
Mention the pros and cons of our jury system and possible alternatives of it. Also, identify the group dynamics of the jury members
At first, I expected the courtroom to be big and full of people. But as I entered to the courtroom it was much smaller than I thought. However, I ended up sitting in front of the defendant’s family, which made me a little uncomfortable. This was especially because there were no other spectators in the room, there was about one column empty. The bailiff of the court that was outside the courtroom was really helpful since he notified me when I could enter and even let me enter 10 minutes before the trial started. That 's when my classmate and I met the judge. The judge, Marysol Rosero was very friendly and even bothered to share some information about her background and how she became a judge. I was surprised that she was so kind, diligent, and friendly because I visualized judges to be really serious. However, once the trial begun she was dedicated, attentive, and professional which I was relieved to see. The judge showed to have things well under control in