Jury Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jury Selection - Essay Example Written by Neil Kressel, a social psychologist at New Jersey's William Paterson University, and his wife Dorit, a practicing attorney, this book provides an even-handed accounting of the methods and ethical issues of the phenomenon called jury consultancy and its possible implications for American justice. It provides a discussion regarding the use of jury consultants in sensitive matters such as race and answers the questions: What do jury consultants do Are their elaborate efforts to assist lawyers in the jury selection process by identifying attitudes, values, and would-be demographic predictors merely benign efforts to screen for biases that could jeopardize fair trials, as practitioners like to claim Scientific Jury Selection is a well-written volume that reviews the research and issues surrounding scientific jury selection. The authors examine the many factors and methods involved in this process and provide a balanced and comprehensive review of the literature as well as raise important scientific and ethical questions. Chapters review such factors as methods of acquiring information and applying those methods to the actual process of jury selection. The volume raises substantial issues about the accuracy and efficacy of the selection process, as well as its ethical and legal implications. In addition, it provides the basis for the psychological methods used. 4. A. Austin (1984). Complex Litigation Confronts the Jury System, 103-104. Greenwod Press, US. Austin provides a case study in which one could gain valuable insight into the workings of jury consultancy and provides an analysis and possible implications of the methods used thru the case study presented. 5. Leci, L., Snowden, J. and Morris, D (2004). "Using Social Science Research to Inform and Evaluate the Contributions of Trial Consultants in the Voir Dire." Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice 4.2 (2004) 67-78 The authors argue that the jury selection methods commonly employed by trial consultants and lawyers in the voir dire process are fraught with problems because they do not employ standardized assessments. This commentary provides and advocates the advantages of employing standardized, reliable, and validated measures of pretrial juror bias to more effectively conduct the voir dire, and we delineate some of the methods by which this can be accomplished. 6. Lieberman, Joel D., and Bruce D. Sales (2007). "Overall Effectiveness of Scientific Jury Selection" in PsycINFO. Washington DC, US: American Psychological Association, 2007. Lieberman and Sales provides a discussion on matters of jury consultancy such as the Purpose and effectiveness of the Voir Dire, influence of demographic factors, influence of Personality and Attitudes, in-court questioning of prospective jurors and ethical and professional issues in Scientific Jury Selection. 7. Van Wallendael, Lori, and Brian Cutler (2004).