Jury: Behavioral Aspects

The jury is regularly the subject of calls for reform. Some proposed reforms, such as those advocating that jurors be permitted to take notes and to submit questions for witnesses during the trial, are modest designed changes to assist jurors in reaching well-considered judgments, to improve the comfort of the conscripted citizens who serve as jurors, and generally to optimize jury performance and juror satisfaction. Other proposed reforms, such as the reduction or elimination of peremptory challenges and the call for greater use of nonunanimous verdicts, have serious potential costs. The remaining question is whether the increasing scholarly literature on jury behavior will inform popular and political discussion.