Racial diversity and group decision‐making in a mock jury experiment

Abstract

The primary goal of this research was to determine whether the racial composition of a jury impacts the outcome and deliberation in a civil retail discrimination lawsuit. We presented a retail discrimination trial video to 30 separate mock juries. Of the 30 juries, 15 juries had 2 Black jurors, while the remaining 15 had no Black jurors (i.e., only White or White and Latinx participants). After watching the video, each mock jury was given 1 h to deliberate as if they were jurors deciding an actual case. Contrary to previous research, juries with Black jurors were no more likely to deliberate longer or consider more case facts. However, they were more likely to find for the plaintiff and award higher compensation. In addition, content analysis of the deliberation racial discourse revealed that some jurors espoused colorblind racial attitudes, minimizing the significance of race in this case and in society in general, and accusing the plaintiff of playing the “race card.” Other jurors encouraged understanding of the plaintiff and espoused non‐colorblind racial attitudes, recognizing the importance and damaging role of racism in American society. Implications for civil trials, jury selection, and racial discourse are discussed.

Diversifying the bench: A commentary on Berryessa, Dror, and McCormack (2022)

“…One might expect that a Black man on the judiciary, who has himself had similar feelings of dread when seeing the police, might be more persuaded by this argument, irrespective of whether his professional experience was as a prosecutor or a defender, than a White judge. We know that increasing racial diversity improves the quality of jury decision making (Bergold & Kovera, 2022; Hakstian et al, 2022; Sommers, 2006). A greater representation of workers of colour in the justice system contributes to more equitable treatment of racial groups (Farrell et al, 2009).…”