A Jury Of One's Peers

A Jury of One's Peers
	THE AMERICAN JURY BULWARK OF DEMOCRACY	About the Project Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago Chicago Historical Society National Endowment for the Humanities
AN ONLINE RESOURCE GUIDE
Lessons and Activities Jury Trials for the Classroom Resources from the Chicago Historical Society Web Resources Print Resources Site Index HISTORY AND PURPOSE Origins of the American Jury Formation of the American Jury STRUCTURE Introduction to Trial by Jury Grand Jury Right of the Accused to Trial by Jury Jury Selection: Voir Dire Jury of One's Peers Jury Deliberation ISSUES Evidence Jury Nullification Jury Trials and the Media Jury Damage Awards Comparative Jury Systems FUTURE Jury in American Society Jury Reform Future of the American Jury	The phrase "a jury of one's peers" is a part of the American lexicon, yet surprisingly it nowhere appears in the Constitution. The Sixth Amendment simply guarantees the right to "a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." Some of the most significant decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court controlling jury composition, moreover, have been based not on the Sixth Amendment but on the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws. " Who sits on the jury, of course, can have a great impact on the outcome of a trial. Yet until very recently, the pool of potential jurors called did not reflect the diversity of their communities, and prospective jurors were dismissed from jury service because of their race, gender, class, or even religion. Today the federal courts and most state courts have adopted outreach strategies to increase the total number of prospective jurors and to create jury pools which reflect more accurately their communities. The U.S. Supreme Court and various state courts also have made it harder for prospective jurors to be dropped simply because of a group to which they belong. What is "a jury of one's peers" and how does it affect juries, those they judge and the society they serve? This section of "The American Jury" is devoted to lessons and resource relating to the composition of juries and what rules must be followed in creating a jury of one's peers.	LIST OF LESSONS … And Justice for All Batson v. Kentucky: A Simulated Moot Court Diversity and the American Jury Why Is 12 an Important Number? An Interdisciplinary Lesson on the Impact of Jury Size upon Juror Diversity Teaching Instructions Record Sheet Guilty as Charged? The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti Haymarket Affair: Exercises with the Jury Race and Gender in Peremptory Challenges: Comparing Batson v. Kentucky and J.E.B. v. Alabama Using the Case Study Method The Trial of Henry Wirz Lesson Summary Andersonville Prison by John Rice Dr. John C. Bates Testomony Deathlog from Andersonville Prison Confederate Juror Profiles Union Juror Profiles Trial Record Sheet Points for Discussion LINKS TO RELEVANT SITES 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) J.E.B. v. Alabama Ex Rel. T.B., 511 U.S. 127 (1994) Connecticut Outlaws Religion-Based Juror Challenges
	PRINT RESOURCES Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). J.E.B. v. Alabama Ex Rel. T.B., 511 U.S. 127 (1994). Glaspell, Susan. "A Jury of Her Peers," Lifted Masks and Other Works (1993), pp. 279-306. Hoffman, Morris B. "Abolish Peremptory Challenges," Judicature, Volume 82, Number 5, (March-April 1999), pp. 202-205. Kennedy, Randall. "Race and the Composition of Juries," Race, Crime and the Law (1997), Chapters 5-7, pp. 168-255. Scheffey, Thomas. "Connecticut Outlaws Religion-Based Juror Challenges," Connecticut Law Tribune, April 5, 1999.
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