The Psychology of Juries

The Psychology of Juries
Author: Margaret Bull Kovera
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781433827044

This volume summarizes what is known about the psychology of juries and offers a robust research agenda to keep scholars busy in years to come.


Jury Decision Making

Jury Decision Making
Author: Dennis J. Devine
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2012-08-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0814725228

While jury decision making has received considerable attention from social scientists, there have been few efforts to systematically pull together all the pieces of this research. In Jury Decision Making, Dennis J. Devine examines over 50 years of research on juries and offers a "big picture" overview of the field. The volume summarizes existing theories of jury decision making and identifies what we have learned about jury behavior, including the effects of specific courtroom practices, the nature of the trial, the characteristics of the participants, and the evidence itself. Making use of those foundations, Devine offers a new integrated theory of jury decision making that addresses both individual jurors and juries as a whole and discusses its ramifications for the courts. Providing a unique combination of broad scope, extensive coverage of the empirical research conducted over the last half century, and theory advancement, this accessible and engaging volume offers "one-stop shopping" for scholars, students, legal professionals, and those who simply wish to better understand how well the jury system works.


Inside the Juror

Inside the Juror
Author: Reid Hastie
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1993
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780521477550

Provides a comprehensive and understandable summary of the major theories of juror decision making.


Criminal Juries in the 21st Century

Criminal Juries in the 21st Century
Author: Cynthia Najdowski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2018-08-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0190658134

The jury is often hailed as one of the most important symbols of American democracy. Yet much has changed since the Sixth Amendment in 1791 first guaranteed all citizens the right to a jury trial in criminal prosecutions. Experts now have a much more nuanced understanding of the psychological implications of being a juror, and advances in technology and neuroscience make the work of rendering a decision in a criminal trial more complicated than ever before. Criminal Juries in the 21st Century explores the increasingly wide gulf between criminal trial law, procedures, and policy, and what scientific findings have revealed about the human experience of serving as a juror. Readers will contemplate myriad legal issues that arise when jurors decide criminal cases as well as cutting-edge psychological research that can be used to not only understand the performance and experience of the contemporary criminal jury, but also to improve it. Chapter authors grapple with a number of key issues at the intersection of psychology and law, guiding readers to consider everything from the factors that influence the initial selection of the jury to how jurors cope with and reflect on their service after the trial ends. Together the chapters provide a unique view of criminal juries with the goal of increasing awareness of a broad range of current issues in great need of theoretical, empirical, and legal attention. Criminal Juries in the 21st Century will identify how social science research can inform law and policy relevant to improving justice within the jury system, and is an essential resource for those who directly study jury decision making as well as social scientists generally, attorneys, judges, students, and even future jurors.


Understanding World Jury Systems Through Social Psychological Research

Understanding World Jury Systems Through Social Psychological Research
Author: Martin F. Kaplan
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1134953054

This volume examines diverse jury systems in nations around the world. These systems are marked by unique features having critical implications for jury selection, composition, functioning, processes, and ultimately, trial outcomes. These unique features are examined by applying relevant social psychological research, models and concepts to the central issues and characteristics of jury systems in those nations using a wide variety of jury procedures. Traditionally, research that has been conducted on juries has almost exclusively targeted the North-American jury. Psychologically-based research on European, Asian and Australian juries has been almost non-existent in the past decade or more. Yet, the incidence of jury trials outside of North America has been steadily increasing as more nations (e.g., Japan, Spain, Russia, and Poland) adopt, revise, or expand their use of juries in their legal system. Accordingly, research has been appearing in the scientific literature on new developments in world juries (particularly in Spain, Japan, and Australia). This volume fulfils the dual purpose of understanding the diverse practices in world juries in light of existing social psychological knowledge and applied research on juries in each nation, and outlining new research in the context of the issues raised by jury practices beyond those of North America.


Punitive Damages

Punitive Damages
Author: Cass R. Sunstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2008-12-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0226780163

Over the past two decades, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in the number and magnitude of punitive damages verdicts rendered by juries in civil trials. Probably the most extraordinary example is the July 2000 award of $144.8 billion in the Florida class action lawsuit brought against cigarette manufacturers. Or consider two recent verdicts against the auto manufacturer BMW in Alabama. In identical cases, argued in the same court before the same judge, one jury awarded $4 million in punitive damages, while the other awarded no punitive damages at all. In cases involving accidents, civil rights, and the environment, multimillion-dollar punitive awards have been a subject of intense controversy. But how do juries actually make decisions about punitive damages? To find out, the authors-experts in psychology, economics, and the law-present the results of controlled experiments with more than 600 mock juries involving the responses of more than 8,000 jury-eligible citizens. Although juries tended to agree in their moral judgments about the defendant's conduct, they rendered erratic and unpredictable dollar awards. The experiments also showed that instead of moderating juror verdicts, the process of jury deliberation produced a striking "severity shift" toward ever-higher awards. Jurors also tended to ignore instructions from the judges; were influenced by whatever amount the plaintiff happened to request; showed "hindsight bias," believing that what happened should have been foreseen; and penalized corporations that had based their decisions on careful cost-benefit analyses. While judges made many of the same errors, they performed better in some areas, suggesting that judges (or other specialists) may be better equipped than juries to decide punitive damages. Using a wealth of new experimental data, and offering a host of provocative findings, this book documents a wide range of systematic biases in jury behavior. It will be indispensable for anyone interested not only in punitive damages, but also jury behavior, psychology, and how people think about punishment.


Determining Damages

Determining Damages
Author: Edie Greene
Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2003-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781557989741

Annotation This study examines the reasoning process behind the jurors' complex task of deciding damage awards, and how the structure and procedures of civil jury trials sometimes impede such decisions. Green (psychology, U. of Colorado, Colorado Springs) and Bornstein (psychology and law, U. of Nebraska) consider such influential factors as identity of the plaintiff, defendant, and jurors themselves; conduct of the litigants; and severity and nature of the injury. The study concludes with recommendations for policy reform. Written for psychologists, law practitioners, social scientists, and policy makers. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).


The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology

The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology
Author: Jennifer M. Brown
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-04-29
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1139489453

Forensic psychology has developed and extended from an original, narrow focus on presenting evidence to the courts to a wider application across the whole span of civil and criminal justice, which includes dealing with suspects, offenders, victims, witnesses, defendants, litigants and justice professionals. This Handbook provides an encyclopedic-style source regarding the major concerns in forensic psychology. It is an invaluable reference text for practitioners within community, special hospital, secure unit, prison, probation and law enforcement forensic settings, as well as being appropriate for trainees and students in these areas. It will also serve as a companion text for lawyers and psychiatric and law enforcement professionals who wish to be apprised of forensic psychology coverage. Each entry provides a succinct outline of the topic, describes current thinking, identifies relevant consensual or contested aspects and alternative positions. Readers are presented with key issues and directed towards specialized sources for further reference.


American Juries

American Juries
Author: Neil Vidmar
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2009-09-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1615929878

This monumental and comprehensive volume reviews more than 50 years of empirical research on civil and criminal juries and returns a verdict that strongly supports the jury system.