JURY TRIALS FOR THE CLASSROOM Perfect Jury Perfect Jury Student Workesheets "Perfect Jury" Tally Sheet "Prosecution Jury" Tally Sheet Defense Jury" Tally Sheet Resources from the Chicago Historical Society Society Norris v. State of Alabama

If you could create the perfect jury what would it look like?
Examining the Constitutional Right to an Impartial jury

Sunni L. Nucci
Northglenn High School
Northglenn, Colorado

Justice
That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise.
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.
-- Langston Hughes

The following lesson is part of a unit in development. The lesson can be used for American Government/Civics courses and American History courses.

The concepts focused on the following activity/lesson in development are:

• "From 'impartial jury' to 'jury of one's peers' - -Should a jury be made up of 'one's peers' or the majority?"

  Lessons around this theme will address the following questions: What should an impartial jury look like? How does the adversarial process bias selection of a jury? As a result of the adversarial process, do juries reflect the community or the peers of the defendant? How are jury pools chosen and researched regarding who serves and who does not? How has the exclusion of groups in the past affected jury decisions? (Scottsboro--African Americans, Taylor v Louisiana--women) How have Supreme Court decisions impacted a more inclusive jury pool? (Scottsboro case study)I have included many artifacts that can be used in examining Scottboro in particular (See follow-up activities)

  I am currently working on the following activity: for more information please contact me at http://www.sunni_nucci@ceo.cudenver.edu/

• "Why don't people want to serve on jury duty? (Adult interviews) Do the current jury reform efforts in Colorado address the concerns of the community? If not, what reforms would?"

  Lessons around this theme will include an interview that students will conduct with 3-5 adults (parents, teachers, community members...). Information from the interviews will be combined to determine why people don't want to serve on jury duty or any problems with jury duty procedures. From that information, students will compare and evaluate whether the current jury reforms in Colorado adequately address the concerns of the community If not, what recommendations could be made to address the problem? Recommendations would be given to the Jury Reform Committee.

• "If you could create a perfect jury, what would it look like?"

  Subjects/Grade Levels
  Grades 9-12 American Government/Civics American Government

  Objectives

  • To examine the sixth amendment right to an impartial jury
  • To use Superficial assumptions .to determine impartiality
  • To contrast how the adversarial nature of the legal process creates bias
  • To discuss how the inclusion or exclusion of groups affect impartiality

  Materials needed

  • Class set of "If you could create the perfect jury, what would it look like?" copied on both sides
  • 3 transparencies of "If you could create the perfect jury..."
  • Set of Jury tally handouts (Jury #l "Perfect Jury," Jury #2 "Prosecution Jury," Jury #3 "Defense Jury") for each class
  • Transparency of "It doesn't look good" political cartoon
  • Butcher paper and markers for groups (4-6 groups)

  Time needed

  One to two (depending on discussion) 50 minute periods

  Procedure

  On an overhead, display the Sixth Amendment the United States Constitution. On the board, write "impartial" and "jury." Ask the students what the terms mean using the words in statements to help them along. Have two students look up the words. Ask them to use words to describe an "impartial jury." Write on the board.

  Break students into groups (4-6 groups/4-6 students per group). I chose to assign groups of students near one another;(in seating) to mix students up.

  Choose a student to be the "Tally Clerk." Give this student a central seat and the Jury #1 "Perfect Jury" tally sheet. This student should be good at math or calculators and be able to work at a quick pace.

  Give each student the handout, "If you could create the perfect jury, what would it look like?" Thoroughly explain that each characteristic must equal twelve and explain the meaning of the last two questions (skills are things you can do versus values which describe the type of person you are or the things you believe in).

  Ask the group to come to create the "perfect jury" based on the opinions of the group. Tell students to send one representative from their group to report their "numbers" to the tally clerk when they have finished the composition of the jury. Tell students to complete the last two parts of the worksheet (skills, values) after someone has reported their numbers. Be sure to walk around during this time to make sure that students are using numbers versus check marks etc.. (yes, it does happen J).

  While groups are reporting numbers, distribute butcher paper and markers to each group and ask them to focus on the last two parts of the worksheet. Ask each group to list 5 skills and 5 values their perfect jury would possess and to rank them in order of importance.

  Once all numbers have been reported, have your tally clerk add and average the results. Once averaged, have the clerk write the class' "perfect jury" on an overhead transparency (If you could create...). Many of the numbers will need to be rounded up or down to equal twelve in each (it requires rounding some and not others). If this is too complicated for your tally clerk or if time is a restraint, leave the numbers in decimal form, the point gets across either way...

  While the "tallying is in process," ask each group to describe their motivations or philosophy in picking their jury and to share their ranked skills and values.

  Display the transparency with the class' "perfect jury" and discuss the strengths of the jury selected (each time I have field-tested this lesson, the jury has been based on equity).

  Tell students to go to the back-side of their worksheet (If you could...) and give them a defendant (a fictional description: i.e. 19 year old Hispanic female or name a student in class (the tally clerk?)), a crime, and a fictional description of a victim.

  Divide the groups evenly and assign prosecution lawyer roles to half of the groups and defense lawyer roles to the other hall: Ask groups to write their role at the top of the worksheet and to create a jury based on this information. Again, ask groups to report their numbers to the tally clerk (who now has jury tallies for Jury#2).

  Once numbers have been reported, ask groups to again rank skills and values of the jurors and write on butcher paper. Have the tally clerk write the results of each jury on a transparency (prosecution, defense) While the tallying is in process, ask groups if their second jury was similar to their first. Why or why not? Did any of the skills or values change? Why or why not? Ask them to predict what each of the new juries will look like.

  Display the new juries. Does the defense jury "look" like the defendant? Where are the numbers concentrated? Why? What does the prosecution jury look like? Why? Did any of the groups choose the first jury again? Why or why not? The discussion should initiate a discussion about the adversarial nature of our legal system/competitive society. Is the goal to win or to find justice?

  Display the overhead of "It doesn't look good." Is this an impartial jury? What would make it impartial? How does the exclusion of one's peers affect a fair verdict? Does the inclusion of one's peers necessarily mean it will be more impartial--does bias for and against balance out? Do common characteristics necessarily ensure bias in favor of the defendant (similar race, age, gender?) Do these superficial characteristic tell us anything about one's skills or values? How can we judge impartiality?

  Ask students to debrief, writing a response to the question, "Should juries be made up of the majority (demographics of the community) or of one's peers?"

  Discuss student reactions. Focus on issues of "justice," "fairness," "bias," etc.

  Follow-up Activities

  • Research how jury pools are formed. A great web-site with information about Colorado can be found at: http://www.courts.state.co.us/ct-index.htm This web-site features"What every juror should know" and current Jury Reforms in Colorado Research through your local jury commissioner regarding demographic information about who is called, who is serving and who is not.
  • A field-trip to a courthouse observing jury trials. Have students observe the defendant and the juries and determine whether the jury was representative of the community and whether the jury was of the defendant's peers (what were the similarities and differences? This activity could also be used by taping court tv voire dire processes. Go to courttv.com
  • Conduct a voir dire simulation to further examine the adversarial process and illustrate how juries are actually selected
  • View a portion of Twelve Angry Men and discuss the jurors--who is present, who is missing? How were groups excluded from jury duty in the past?
  • Research Taylor v. Louisiana (1975) to examine the inclusion of women or the landmark Scottsboro Boys decision Norris V. Alabama (1935) to examine the inclusion of African-Americans to jury pools.
  • An invaluable web-site with background information on the Scottsboro case can be found at: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htmThe web-site offers a wonderful synopsis of the case, witness profiles, testimony.… Students could recreate the trial, create a gallery, write fictional personal accounts, poetry, examine the Supreme Court decision etc.

  I have included several artifacts related to the case in this packet of resources from the Chicago Historical Society. I would appreciate any feedback regarding how you used these and what was successful.

  Discuss the article, "Racial Divide Affects Black, White Panelists"