Representative Juries: Why They Matter & How to Get Them

This session will begin by exploring the social science demonstrating that diverse juries engage in higher quality deliberations and are less likely to issue biased verdicts. The presenters will then identify strategies for securing diverse juries at two stages of the trial process.

First, the session will highlight an underutilized tool for litigating jury representation: the right to civil and criminal juries selected from a "fair cross-section" of the community. Many lawyers are unfamiliar with this pre-voir dire litigation strategy and so the session will identify what trial consultants should know about the components of a "fair cross-section claim."

Second, the session will identify the tension among the needs for diverse juries, for impartial juries, and to protect jurors against discrimination, and how better voir dire procedures can address all three.