Racial Bias and the English Criminal Trial Jury

Daly, Gillian; Pattenden, Rosemary

doi:10.1017/s0008197305007002

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…17 However, it is acknowledged that majority verdicts may also silence 'a minority who opposed a racist majority'. 18 Thomas's 2007 case simulation study, 'Diversity and fairness in the jury system', 19 found that ethnicity influenced the individual votes of some jurors in some cases. In such cases, 'black or minority ethnic' jurors were less likely to convict 'black or minority ethnic' defendants when compared to white defendants.…”

Section: Excluding the Minority Voice And Convicting The Innocent?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Majority jury verdicts in England and Wales: a vestige of white supremacy?

Waller,

Sakande

2024

Race & Class

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In England and Wales, the requirement for a unanimous jury verdict in criminal cases was abolished in 1967, marking a significant departure from a centuries-old legal tradition. Majority verdicts are now common practice, yet no research to date explores the origins of this sudden change to the jury system. In contrast, recent research in the US uncovered a connection between the conception of majority verdicts in Louisiana and Jim Crow era law-making, finding that majority verdicts were strategically introduced to suppress the black juror vote and facilitate quicker convictions to fuel free prison labour. The US Supreme Court later outlawed majority verdicts in a case known as Ramos v. Louisiana, amid recognition of their racist origins . Adopting the critical epistemological position guiding the US research, we consider how race and class underpinned the decision to introduce majority verdicts in England and Wales. Drawing on Home Office files and other archival materials, we find that an increase in eligible jurors from different racial and class backgrounds led to a perceived decline in the ‘calibre’ of jurors – reflective of wider public anxieties about Commonwealth immigration, Black Power and white disenfranchisement. We conclude that a desire to dilute the influence of ‘coloured’ migrants on juries contributed to the introduction of majority verdicts in England and Wales.

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Section: Excluding the Minority Voice And Convicting The Innocent?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Majority jury verdicts in England and Wales: a vestige of white supremacy?

Waller,

Sakande

2024

Race & Class

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“…This suggestion is, naturally, not new. It has been suggested as a way to safeguard against racially prejudiced verdicts by Daly and Pattenden (2005). It is worth pointing out that audio recording may have problems of intelligibility.…”

Section: A Defence Of Real Jury Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This suggestion is, naturally, not new. It has been suggested as a way to safeguard against racially prejudiced verdicts byDaly and Pattenden (2005).34 This is not unheard of. Permission was once granted to videotape 50 civil juries in Arizona for a targeted investigation of how one procedural change might affect the quality of jury deliberation.…”

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confidence: 99%

The curious case of the jury-shaped hole: A plea for real jury research

Ross

2023

The International Journal of Evidence & Proof

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Criminal juries make decisions of great importance. A key criticism of juries is that they are unreliable in a multitude of ways, from exhibiting racial or gendered biases, to misunderstanding their role, to engaging in impropriety such as internet research. Recently, some have even claimed that the use of juries creates injustice on a large scale, as a cause of low conviction rates for sexual criminality. Unfortunately, empirical research into jury deliberation is undermined by the fact that researchers are unable to study live juries. The indirect sources of evidence used by researchers suffer from various problems, the most important of which is dubious levels of ecological validity. Real jury research—studying live jury deliberation—is controversial. However, as I argue, the objections to it are unconvincing. There is in fact a moral imperative to facilitate real jury research.

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“…This information would be of inestimable assistance in improving the trial process: by helping us see the path forwards in making the legal system more hospitable for victims of sexual assault, to see the extent to which juries are influenced 39 This suggestion is, naturally, not new. It has been suggested as a way to safeguard against racially prejudiced verdicts by Daly and Pattenden (2005). It is worth pointing out that audio recording may have problems of intelligibility.…”

Section: A Defence Of Real Jury Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Curious Case of the Jury-Shaped Hole: A Plea for Real Jury Research

Ross¹

2022

Preprint

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**Forthcoming in The International Journal of Evidence & Proof** Criminal juries make decisions of great importance. A key criticism of juries is that they are unreliable in a multitude of ways, from exhibiting racial or gendered biases, to misunderstanding their role, to engaging in impropriety such as internet research. Recently, some have even claimed that the use of juries creates injustice on a large-scale, as a cause of low conviction rates for sexual criminality. Unfortunately, empirical research into jury deliberation is undermined by the fact that researchers are unable to study live juries. The indirect sources of evidence used by researchers suffer from various problems, the most important of which is dubious levels of ecological validity. Real jury research—studying live jury deliberation—is controversial. However, as I argue, the objections to it are unconvincing. There is in fact a moral imperative to facilitate real jury research.

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Racial Bias and the English Criminal Trial Jury

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Majority jury verdicts in England and Wales: a vestige of white supremacy?

Majority jury verdicts in England and Wales: a vestige of white supremacy?

The curious case of the jury-shaped hole: A plea for real jury research

The Curious Case of the Jury-Shaped Hole: A Plea for Real Jury Research

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