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NCJRS Abstract

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NCJ Number:	113808

Title:	Basis of Citizens' Perceptions of the Criminal Jury: Procedural Fairness, Accuracy, and Efficiency

Journal:	Law and Human Behavior Volume:12 Issue:3 Dated:(September 1988) Pages:333-352

Author(s):	R J MacCoun; T R Tyler

Date Published:	1988

Page Count:	20

Type:	Survey

Format:	Article

Language:	English

Country:	United States of America

Annotation:	Two studies are described which analyzed citizens' perceptions of the criminal jury and their preferences for 6-member or 12-member juries operating under unanimous or majority decision rules.

Abstract:	In the first study, a telephone survey of 160 adults randomly selected from the Evanston, Ill. telephone directory asked respondents to evaluate alternative jury structures in the abstract. Study two asked 96 Northwestern University undergraduates to evaluate jury structures for a hypothetical trial in which they were either the defendant or the victim in a crime. Jury size and decision rule were related to ratings of procedural costs in both studies. Severity of the crime also moderated procedural evaluations. Respondents in study one preferred juries to judges and favored the 12-person unanimous jury when a serious crime was involved. In study two, subjects seemed to trade off procedural cost and thoroughness of deliberation as a function of the seriousness of the crime. The strongest independent predictor of desirability for jury procedures was procedural fairness. Respondents in both studies were very supportive of the jury as an institution. Tables and approximately 40 references. (Author abstract modified)

Main Term(s):	Juries

Index Term(s):	Jury size changes; Jury unanimity; Public Opinion of the Courts



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NCJRS Abstract

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