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Achieving Diversity on the Jury: Jury Size and the Peremptory Challenge
Author(s) -
Diamond Shari Seidman,
Peery Destiny,
Dolan Francis J.,
Dolan Emily
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of empirical legal studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1740-1461
pISSN - 1740-1453
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-1461.2009.01149.x
Subject(s) - jury , hung jury , diversity (politics) , jury selection , political science , jury trial , selection (genetic algorithm) , psychology , law , computer science , artificial intelligence
Diversity on the jury promotes the perceived fairness of the jury system. Analyzing the jury selection and composition in 277 civil jury trials, we examine how the jury selection process and jury size, two contested features of the jury system, affect diversity. We show that while peremptory challenges were systematically related to juror race/ethnicity, the opposing challenges cancelled each other out, producing no overall effect on the makeup of the jury. In contrast, jury size had a substantial effect on minority representation. We conclude that diversity is most effectively promoted by restoring the 12‐member jury.