The Document Based Question/essay prompt You, the Juror was prepared in 2016 and the resources have not been updated since that time. For more information about recent legal developments, consult national and state newspapers, legal databases, and your librarian.
Jury service has evolved since the inception of the United States. Juries are intended to provide a fair and unbiased review of evidence during trials, but there was a time when not everyone was able to serve on them. Today we have universal jury service in both criminal and civil trials, ensuring community participation in the justice system. We ask the question, What role does jury service play in our democracy?
This activity meets the following guidelines of New York State’s Common Core Social Studies Framework (2017):
- Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: 12.G2a
- Rights, Responsibilities, and Duties of Citizenship: 12.G3c
Below is a list of the 2016 resources in a searchable table. Search by theme of resource: jury selection, race and juries, women and juries, or jury history.
Supreme Court Preview: Foster v. Chatman
The Federalist Society A preview of a case in which the Supreme Court will consider the extent to which jurors ...
Sixth Amendment: Speedy Trial & Impartial Jury – Video
C-SPAN A discussion of the importance of jury trials and the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This includes a ...
Becoming Full Citizens: The U.S. Women’s Jury Rights Campaigns, the Pace of reform, and Strategic Adaptation
American Journal of Sociology This article examines the strategies and approach employed by the women's rights movements of the early ...
The Woman Juror
Women Lawyers' Journal In 1927, women gained the right to vote but still lacked the right to serve on juries ...
Impact of Jury Race and Selection on Verdicts in Criminal Trials
Journalist's Resource A study by Duke University found that racial diversity had a large impact on the decisions reached by ...
Jury Without Jews Request Rejected by New York City Judge
ABC News In 2013, a terrorism suspect requested that no Jewish citizens be allowed to sit on the jury in ...
Jury Representativeness: It’s No Joke in the State of New York
Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy This brief article looks at recent initiatives in New York to spread the ...
Jury Selection
New York State Bar Association A guideline for attorneys in New York on the jury selection process and how they ...
Finding a Jury of Your Peers Is Pretty Complicated
NPR Selecting a jury that represents the population can be a difficult task, having to take into account how issues ...
Batson Challenges and the Jury Project: Is New York Ready to Eliminate Discrimination From Criminal Jury Selection?
St. John's University School of Law Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development New York has attempted to end racial ...
The Supreme Court’s Gap on Race and Juries
The New York Times The Supreme Court heard a case on the Batson Challenge in late 2015. Columnist Linda Greenhouse ...