Judging The Jury

by Valerie P Hans, Neil Vidmar

Overview

In this work, Hans and Vidmar review the historical evolution of the trial jury, the contemporary role of the jury in the American criminal justice system, and future prospects for the jury as an institutional force.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738205748
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	07/30/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1330L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Part I.	Introduction
Chapter 1.	Introduction	13
Chapter 2.	From Trial by Ordeal to Trial by Jury	21
Chapter 3.	The Evolution of the American Jury	31
Part II.	Jury Selection
Chapter 4.	A Jury of Peers--But from an Unbiased Community	47
Chapter 5.	Jury Selection: Eliminating Some of the Peers	63
Chapter 6.	The New "Science" of Jury Selection	79
Part III.	Jury Decisions
Chapter 7.	Inside the Jury Room	97
Chapter 8.	Jury Competence: Twelve People of Average Ignorance?	113
Chapter 9.	Mr. Prejudice or Miss Sympathy: A Thirteenth Juror?	131
Chapter 10.	The War with the Law	149
Chapter 11.	Six versus Twelve, All versus Some	165
Part IV.	The Jury in the Eye of the Storm
Chapter 12.	Mad or Bad? Juries and the Defense of Insanity	179
Chapter 13.	Jurors' Views of Rape: Anger and Ambivalence	199
Chapter 14.	The Jury and the Executioner	219
Part V.	Conclusion
Chapter 15.	Today and Tomorrow: A Summary View and Judgment	245
	Notes	253
	Name Index	273
	Subject Index	279

Editorial Reviews

Juries have been variously praised as bulwarks of democracy and maligned as easily manipulated pawns. Both of these books, in assessing the available evidence, conclude that most of the time juries are both competent and effective. Hans and Vidmar are social scientists, and their book is oriented around issues such as jury selection, the effects of sympathy or prejudice on verdicts, and unanimous versus majority voting. Particular attention is paid to the insanity defense, rape, and capital punishment. Additionally, there is material on the history and development of juries. The book is serious in tone, but scholarly apparatus has been kept out of sight, making it readily accessible to general readers. Wishman deals with many of the same issues, but introduces them in the context of a semi-novelistic account of a murder trial (actually a composite of several trials). Unfortunately, the trial narrative is so compelling that the substantive material on juries, while well presented, seems more like an unwelcome digression than the main point of the book. Both books contain copious notes for those who wish to dig more deeply, and both are recommended for public and academic libraries. Jack Ray, Loyola/Notre Dame Lib., Baltimore

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