Debate Primer: Jury Trials
This week, Political Union will be debating whether jury trials should be abolished in the United States. It’s hard to imagine a justice system without jury trials, however there are strong arguments on both sides. On one hand, juries provide a clean slate of people which theoretically only listen to the facts of the case without prejudice. They make decisions solely based on evidence presented and instruction given by the judge. However, we know that all people, at some level, have bias and prejudice. Below is a list of articles that are helpful resources on the topic. Enjoy!
What are juries? How do they work? Can I be a juror? Can you be a juror? All of these questions plus more are answered in this helpful video titles “Knowledge Seminar - Jury Service Overview” by the United States Courts YouTube page. The video is 3.5 minutes long.
This article, “Trial by Jury vs. Trial by Judge”, by Duke law professor Bertel Sparks, presents some common criticisms of the jury trial yet argues to keep it, citing how it is necessary in the judicial process. The piece is about 2000 words in length.
“Jury trials are disappearing. Here’s why.”, by Emanuella Evans, discusses some figures about jury trial prevalence in the American justice system, and some of the reasons its use is already declining. The piece is about 750 words.
This Guardian article, “Our justice system is in crisis, so why not abolish jury trials?” is by BBC broadcaster Simon Jenkins and provides a good overview of the case against jury trials. The piece is about 850 words.
“Jury” by CALI is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0