SMNR: Jury in Theory & Practice

Course Information

Registration Information

Meeting Times

Day Time Location
WED 4:15 - 6:13 pm ONLINE

Evaluation Method

Type Date Time Location
Paper

Description

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

This seminar explores issues raised by the jury as an institution of democratic justice. Issues to be discussed include: what does it mean for the jury to be a "representative" body of the community? Do jurors divide along racial, gender, and ethnic lines? Is there any "science" in scientific jury selection? Do peremptory challenges serve valid purposes or should they be abolished? Should jurors be permitted to nullify the law in order to render a verdict according to conscience? Do jurors understand and follow their instructions? Why do we require criminal juries to reach unanimous verdicts? Special attention will be given to jury selection and deliberation in death penalty trials.

Textbooks ( * denotes required )

A Crime of Self-Defense : Bernhard Goetz and the Law on Trial *
Fletcher, George P.
University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 978-0-226-25334-3
Billy Budd and Other Tales *
Melville, Herman
Penguin Publishing Group
ISBN: 978-0-451-52687-8
We, the Jury : The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy, with a New Preface *
Abramson, Jeffrey
Harvard University Press
ISBN: 978-0-674-00430-6

Instructors

Headshot of Abramson, Jeffrey B Abramson, Jeffrey B
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