Overview

The jury is often hailed as one of the most important symbols of American democracy. Yet much has changed since the Sixth Amendment in 1791 first guaranteed all citizens the right to a jury trial in criminal prosecutions. Experts now have a much more nuanced understanding of the psychological implications of being a juror, and advances in technology and neuroscience make the work of rendering a decision in a criminal trial more complicated than ever before. Criminal Juries in the 21st Century explores the increasingly wide gulf between criminal trial law, procedures, and policy, and what scientific findings have revealed about the human experience of serving as a juror. Readers will contemplate myriad legal issues that arise when jurors decide criminal cases as well as cutting-edge psychological research that can be used to not only understand the performance and experience of the contemporary criminal jury, but also to improve it. Chapter authors grapple with a number of key issues at the intersection of psychology and law, guiding readers to consider everything from the factors that influence the initial selection of the jury to how jurors cope with and reflect on their service after the trial ends. Together the chapters provide a unique view of criminal juries with the goal of increasing awareness of a broad range of current issues in great need of theoretical, empirical, and legal attention. Criminal Juries in the 21st Century will identify how social science research can inform law and policy relevant to improving justice within the jury system, and is an essential resource for those who directly study jury decision making as well as social scientists generally, attorneys, judges, students, and even future jurors.

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9780190658144

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Reviews

Serves as a superb resource for scholars or students who are new to the field of behavioral law or criminal psychology. -- Choice Cynthia Najdowski and Margaret Stevenson have brought together an impressive set of new and established scholars to explore the key challenges facing 21st-century criminal juries. From concerns about lingering racism and implicit bias to questions about the impact of cutting-edge technologies, this volume masterfully interweaves actual cases, social science research, and legal analysis. The result is a highly useful compendium of what we know and what we still need to learn to help future juries navigate these challenges. -- Edie Greene, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Recognizing that the jury system imagined in the late 18th century reflects a mere shadow of what contemporary juries face, Cynthia Najdowski and Margaret Stevenson, and the impressive experts they assembled, have done much to move the scholarship of juries into the here-and-now. This must-read book tackles important issues playing out in today's courtrooms including those relevant to LGBQT individuals, implicit biases, testilying, neuroscientific evidence, video recordings, and many more significant challenges. Using engaging real-world cases to illustrate issues, this book is destined to become the go-to classic for those who study, appeal to, or sit on juries. -- Allison Redlich, PhD, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University Najdowski and Stevenson's Criminal Juries in the 21st Century reflects a contemporary and thorough review of psychological science applied to the jury system. The editors brought together an all-star cast of scholars, including psychologists and law professors, to review the scientific and policy issues associated with classic research issues such as juror selection and bias as well as modern and emerging issues such as jury use of ubiquitous video recordings and neuroscience evidence. Each chapter provides an in-depth review of the contemporary issues and research. The contributions of the volume as a whole are elegantly summarized and integrated in the final chapter by Shari Seidman Diamond. This volume will be immensely useful to the newest and the more seasoned followers of jury science. -- Brian L. Cutler, PhD, University of Ontario Institute of Technology Written by a terrific mix of seasoned and emerging jury scholars, the chapters in this volume provide a comprehensive exploration of how recent shifts in societal attitudes and ongoing technological developments influence the work of the criminal jury. Readers are sure to come away with new insights that will invigorate their investigations into jury behavior. -- Margaret Bull Kovera, PhD, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

Author Information

Cynthia J. Najdowski is an Assistant Professor at the University at Albany. Her research explores how social psychological phenomena shape criminal justice interactions in ways that produce miscarriages of justice for minorities, women, and children. Her work has been recognized with several national grants and awards and published in the top-ranked journals in the field of psychology and law. She also co-edited Children as Victims, Witnesses, and Offenders: Psychological Science and the Law. Margaret C. Stevenson is an Associate Professor at the University of Evansville. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to factors that shape juror decision making and the nature of jury deliberations. She also explores perceptions of marginalized individuals, including children and minorities, who enter the legal system, either as victims or as perpetrators of crime. Her research has received grants and awards from divisions of the American Psychological Association.

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