Justifying the Jury: Reconciling Justice, Equality, and Democracy
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Social Choice Theory Christian List
1 Social Choice Theory Christian List Social choice theory is the study of collective decision procedures. It is not a single theory, but a cluster of models and results concerning the aggregation of individual inputs (e.g., votes, preferences, judgments, welfare) into collective outputs (e.g., collective decisions, preferences, judgments, welfare). Central questions are: How can a group of individuals choose a winning outcome (e.g., policy, electoral candidate) from a given set of options? What are the properties of different voting systems? When is a voting system democratic? How can a collective (e.g., electorate, legislature, collegial court, expert panel, or committee) arrive at coherent collective preferences or judgments on some issues, on the basis of its members’ individual preferences or judgments? How can we rank different social alternatives in an order of social welfare? Social choice theorists study these questions not just by looking at examples, but by developing general models and proving theorems. Pioneered in the 18th century by Nicolas de Condorcet and Jean-Charles de Borda and in the 19th century by Charles Dodgson (also known as Lewis Carroll), social choice theory took off in the 20th century with the works of Kenneth Arrow, Amartya Sen, and Duncan Black. Its influence extends across economics, political science, philosophy, mathematics, and recently computer science and biology. Apart from contributing to our understanding of collective decision procedures, social choice theory has applications in the areas of institutional design, welfare economics, and social epistemology. 1. History of social choice theory 1.1 Condorcet The two scholars most often associated with the development of social choice theory are the Frenchman Nicolas de Condorcet (1743-1794) and the American Kenneth Arrow (born 1921). -
Random Selection in Politics
Random selection in politics Lyn Carson and Brian Martin Published in 1999 by Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT Available for purchase from Praeger This is the text submitted to Praeger in February 1999. It differs from the published version in minor ways, including formatting, copy-editing changes, page numbering (100 pages instead of 161) and omission of the index. This version prepared August 2008 Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Random selection in decision making 10 3. Direct democracy 26 4. Citizen participation without random selection 36 5. Citizen participation with random selection: the early days 43 6. Citizen participation with random selection: yesterday, today, and tomorrow 52 7. Sortition futures 65 8. Strategies 76 Appendix: Examples of citizen participation 84 Bibliography 93 Acknowledgments Brownlea, John Burnheim, Ned Crosby, Many people we’ve talked to find the Jim Dator, Mary Lane, Marcus Schmidt, idea of random selection in politics and Stuart White. Their input was unnatural and unwelcome. This didn’t valuable even when we decided on an deter us! Fortunately, there were a few alternative approach. Helpful comments enthusiasts who got and kept us going. were also received from Ted Becker, Alan Davies, Fred Emery, and Merrelyn Stephen Healy, Lars Klüver, and Ken Emery provided the original inspiration Russell. Others who provided many years ago as well as ongoing information are acknowledged in the conversations. text. The process of obtaining comments Ted Becker encouraged us to write has been stimulating because not all this book. On drafts, we received readers go with us all the way on extensive comments from Arthur randomness. -
Jury Selection in Federal Court
Resource ID: 1-613-5747 Jury Selection in Federal Court JONATHAN S. TAM, DECHERT LLP, WITH PRACTICAL LAW LITIGATION Search the Resource ID numbers in blue on Westlaw for more. This Practice Note addresses selecting a jury Exercising juror challenges (see Exercising Juror Challenges). in a federal civil case, including the applicable Conducting post-trial interviews (see Conducting Post-Trial Interviews). rules on picking a jury, the process and method for jury selection, researching prospective OVERVIEW OF THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS jurors and building juror profiles, conducting Although how a jury is selected varies among courts and judges, the voir dire, exercising peremptory challenges, process in federal court generally occurs in the following order: The court may first mail a preliminary, administrative questionnaire challenges for cause, and Batson challenges, to a randomly selected pool of prospective jurors from registered and interviewing jurors post-trial. voter or licensed driver lists to determine if these individuals appear qualified for federal jury service based on their age and ability to understand English (see Juror Qualifications). The prospect of a jury trial often keeps counsel and their clients The court mails summonses to an initial pool of randomly selected awake at night. Juries can be unpredictable, and jurors may have prospective jurors. The court then randomly selects a narrower preconceived ideas or biases that can escape counsel during the pool of prospective jurors from the initial pool, and calls them for a selection process. Some cases may be won or lost during jury specific case. selection, before opening statements or a single piece of evidence The judge presiding over the case determines whether any jurors is introduced. -
Local Criminal Rules
LOCAL CRIMINAL RULES UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA Mark C. McCartt, Clerk of Court Effective Date: September 26, 2016 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Intro 5 Counties 6 I. SCOPE OF RULES 7 LCrR1. Scope; Application. 7 1.1 Title and Citation. 7 1.2 Effective Date. 7 1.3 Application of Rules. 7 1.4 Electronic filings. 7 1.5 Judicial Waiver. 7 1.6 Forms and General Orders. 7 1.7 United States Magistrate Judges. 7 II. INITIAL APPEARANCE, ARRAIGNMENT, AND PRELIMINARY HEARINGS 7 LCrR5. Initial Appearance Before Magistrate Judge. 7 5.1 Time and Place of Initial Appearance. 7 5.2 Initial Interview of Defendant by U.S. Probation Officers. 8 5.3 Preparation of the Financial Affidavit. 8 5.4 Appearance on a Summons. 8 5.5 Unsealing Case. 8 LCrR6. Grand Jury. 8 6.1 Release of Grand Jury Material to U.S. Probation Officer. 8 LCrR7. Complaint, Indictment, and Information. 8 7.1 Delivery of a Complaint After Filing. 8 7.2 Related Case Notices. 9 7.3 Return of Indictments. 9 7.4 Delivery of an Information After Filing. 10 7.5 Random Assignment of District Judges. 10 LCrR10. Arraignment 10 10.1 Waiver of Appearance. 10 III. PREPARATION FOR TRIAL 10 LCrR11. Plea Agreements. 10 11.1 Providing Plea Agreements to the Court. 10 11.2 Notification of a Change of Plea. 10 11.3 Petition to Enter a Plea of Guilty. 10 11.4 Deferring Acceptance or Rejection of Plea Agreements. 10 LCrR12. Disclosure Statement. -
Legislature by Lot: Envisioning Sortition Within a Bicameral System
PASXXX10.1177/0032329218789886Politics & SocietyGastil and Wright 789886research-article2018 Special Issue Article Politics & Society 2018, Vol. 46(3) 303 –330 Legislature by Lot: Envisioning © The Author(s) 2018 Article reuse guidelines: Sortition within a Bicameral sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329218789886DOI: 10.1177/0032329218789886 System* journals.sagepub.com/home/pas John Gastil Pennsylvania State University Erik Olin Wright University of Wisconsin–Madison Abstract In this article, we review the intrinsic democratic flaws in electoral representation, lay out a set of principles that should guide the construction of a sortition chamber, and argue for the virtue of a bicameral system that combines sortition and elections. We show how sortition could prove inclusive, give citizens greater control of the political agenda, and make their participation more deliberative and influential. We consider various design challenges, such as the sampling method, legislative training, and deliberative procedures. We explain why pairing sortition with an elected chamber could enhance its virtues while dampening its potential vices. In our conclusion, we identify ideal settings for experimenting with sortition. Keywords bicameral legislatures, deliberation, democratic theory, elections, minipublics, participation, political equality, sortition Corresponding Author: John Gastil, Department of Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 232 Sparks Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, USA. Email: [email protected] *This special issue of Politics & Society titled “Legislature by Lot: Transformative Designs for Deliberative Governance” features a preface, an introductory anchor essay and postscript, and six articles that were presented as part of a workshop held at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, September 2017, organized by John Gastil and Erik Olin Wright. -
In Real Jury Deliberations: Successes, Failures, and Next Steps†
Copyright 2012 by Northwestern University School of Law Printed in U.S.A. Northwestern University Law Review Vol. 106, No. 4 Articles THE “KETTLEFUL OF LAW” IN REAL JURY DELIBERATIONS: SUCCESSES, FAILURES, AND NEXT STEPS† Shari Seidman Diamond, Beth Murphy & Mary R. Rose ABSTRACT—According to standard lore, when jurors are doused with “a kettleful of law” at the end of a trial, they either ignore it or are hopelessly confused. We present new evidence from a unique data set: not mock jury experiments or post-trial self-reports, but rather the deliberations of fifty real civil juries. Our intensive analysis of these deliberations presents a picture that contradicts received wisdom about juries and the law. We show that juries in typical civil cases pay substantial attention to the instructions and that although they struggle, the juries develop a reasonable grasp of most of the law they are asked to apply. When instructions fail, they do so primarily in ways that are generally ignored in the debate about juries and the law. That is, the jury deliberations reveal that when communication breaks down, the breakdown stems from more fundamental sources than simply opaque legal language. We identify a few modest pockets of juror resistance to the law and suggest why jury commonsense may in some instances be preferable to announced legal standards. We conclude that it will take more than a “plain English” movement to achieve genuine harmony between laypersons and jury instructions on the law. AUTHORS—Shari Seidman Diamond is the Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University School of Law and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation. -
Two Ideals of Jury Deliberation Jeffrey Abramson [email protected]
University of Chicago Legal Forum Volume 1998 | Issue 1 Article 6 Two Ideals of Jury Deliberation Jeffrey Abramson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf Recommended Citation Abramson, Jeffrey () "Two Ideals of Jury Deliberation," University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 1998: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1998/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Chicago Legal Forum by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Two Ideals of Jury Deliberation Jeffrey Abramsont Several recent works of political theory have put forward a model of democracy that gives deliberation, and popular participation in deliberation, a central place in resolving moral disagreements among citizens.' Rather than shunting moral disputes as irresolvable or leaving their solution to the courts, theorists of democratic deliberation have argued that disputes over fundamental moral values have a place in politics and that citizens motivated by mutual respect toward their opponents or similar constraints can reason publicly to attain justifiable conclusions. As philosophers Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson put it, the "core idea" behind deliberative democracy is simple: even "when citizens or their representatives disagree morally, they should continue to reason together to reach mutually acceptable decisions." 2 When asked to give a practical example of such deliberation, deliberative democracy theorists often cite the jury as an institution that embodies the ideal of using collective reasoned discussion to attain a common verdict. -
COVID-19 and the Resumption of Criminal Jury Trials, Part 1
© UNC School of Government March 12, 2021 COVID-19 and the Resumption of Criminal Jury Trials Part 1: Jury Selection Ian A. Mance* Following a long layoff, criminal jury trials have resumed in some places in North Carolina. Pursuant to the Chief Justice’s orders, individual districts have implemented local plans that describe the protocols to be followed, so as to mitigate the risk of transmission of COVID-19 among trial participants. The plans to accomplish this are varied in terms of their level of detail, but all of them make significant modifications to the typical jury trial arrangement. Some of the changes, such as those contemplated for selecting the jury, have constitutional significance, and they will need to be implemented with care so as not to run afoul of defendants’ trial rights. I. Fair Cross Section Concerns about Changes in the Jury Selection Process One of the more difficult issues facing trial courts during the pandemic is the question of how to safely seat a jury while complying with all of the relevant constitutional requirements. Already, a number of courts have been forced to postpone scheduled trials because so few of those issued jury summons reported to court. In some districts, defense lawyers have reported that pandemic venires have been whiter and younger than is typical for their district. At this juncture, it is unclear the extent to which courts may be disproportionately excusing members of certain groups from service in response to pandemic-related concerns, but the issue is a real one and could have significant ramifications. Increasing Courts’ Discretion to Excuse Jury Service. -
Bounds on the Competence of a Homogeneous Jury
Theory Dec. (2012) 72:89–112 DOI 10.1007/s11238-010-9216-5 Bounds on the competence of a homogeneous jury Alexander Zaigraev · Serguei Kaniovski Published online: 5 May 2010 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2010 Abstract In a homogeneous jury, the votes are exchangeable correlated Bernoulli random variables. We derive the bounds on a homogeneous jury’s competence as the minimum and maximum probability of the jury being correct, which arise due to unknown correlations among the votes. The lower bound delineates the downside risk associated with entrusting decisions to the jury. In large and not-too-competent juries the lower bound may fall below the success probability of a fair coin flip—one half, while the upper bound may not reach a certainty. We also derive the bounds on the voting power of an individual juror as the minimum and maximum probability of her/his casting a decisive vote. The maximum is less than one, while the minimum of zero can be attained for infinitely many combinations of distribution moments. Keywords Dichotomous choice · Correlated votes · Linear programming JEL Classification C61 · D72 1 Introduction The literature on Condorcet’s Jury Theorem studies the expertise of a group of experts. In a criminal jury, the experts are sworn jurors whose common purpose is to convict A. Zaigraev Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Chopin str. 12/18, 87-100 Toru´n, Poland e-mail: [email protected] S. Kaniovski (B) Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), P.O. Box 91, 1103 Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] 123 90 A. -
9.2 Challenges to Grand Jury Composition Or Selection of Foreperson A
Ch. 9: Grand Jury Proceedings (Dec. 2019) 9.2 Challenges to Grand Jury Composition or Selection of Foreperson A. Equal Protection Challenges to Grand Jury Composition B Fair Cross-Section Challenges to Grand Jury Composition C. Challenges to Selection of Grand Jury Foreperson D. Procedure for Challenging Grand Jury Composition or Selection of Foreperson ___________________________________________________________ 9.2 Challenges to Grand Jury Composition or Selection of Foreperson A. Equal Protection Challenges to Grand Jury Composition The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, sections 19 and 26, of the North Carolina Constitution protect against jury selection procedures that intentionally exclude members of an identifiable class from jury service. See Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482 (1977) (equal protection clause protections apply to selection of grand jury array); State v. Hardy, 293 N.C. 105 (1977) (exclusion of women, African-Americans, and 18 to 21 year-olds challenged under equal protection clause); State v. Wright, 274 N.C. 380 (1968) (exclusion of African-Americans challenged); State v Yoes, 271 N.C. 616 (1967) (same); see also Peters v. Kiff, 407 U.S. 493, 502 (1972) (“a State cannot, consistent with due process, subject a defendant to indictment or trial by a jury that has been selected in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States”). If an indictment is returned by a grand jury that was unlawfully constituted because members of a suspect class were intentionally excluded, the indictment is void and the superior court has no jurisdiction to enter judgment against the defendant. -
Jury Selection Procedures in United States District Courts ~ Federal Judicial Center the FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER
Education and lraining Series Jury Selection Procedures in United States District Courts ~ Federal judicial Center THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER Board The Chief Justice of the United States Chairman Judge John D, Butzner, Jr, Chief Judge William S, Sessions United States Court of Appeals Uniled Stales District Court for the Fourth Circuit Western District of Texas Judge Cornelia G, Kennedy Judge Donald S, Voorhees United States Court of Appeals United States District Court for the Sixth Circuit Western District of Washington Judge Aubrey E Robinson, Jr. Judge Lloyd D, George United States District Court United States Bankruptcy Court District of Columbia District of Nevada William E Foley Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts Director A Leo Levin Deputy Director Charles W Nihan Division Directors Kenneth C, Crawford William B Eldridge ContinUing Education Research and Training Gordon Bermant Alice L O'Donnell Innovations Inler-Judicial Affairs and Systems Development and Informalion Sen'ices Assistant Director Russell R. Wheeler 1520 H Street, NW Washington, D,C. 20005 Telephone 202/633,6011 ® JURY SELECTION PROCEDURES IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS by Gordon Bermant Federal Judicial Center June 1982 This publication is based on a st,udy undertaken in furtherance of the Center's statutory mission to conduct and stimulate research and development on matters of judicial administration, The analy ses, conclusions, and points of view are those of the author. This work has been subjected to staff review within the Center, and publication signifies that it is regarded as responsible and valua ble. It should be emphasized, however, that on matters of policy the Center speaks only through its Board. -
Jury Theorems
Jury Theorems Franz Dietrich Kai Spiekermann Paris School of Economics & CNRS London School of Economics Working Paper 1 August 2016 Abstract We give a review and critique of jury theorems from a social-epistemology per- spective, covering Condorcet's (1785) classic theorem and several later refine- ments and departures. We assess the plausibility of the conclusions and premises featuring in jury theorems and evaluate the potential of such theorems to serve as formal arguments for the `wisdom of crowds'. In particular, we argue (i) that there is a fundamental tension between voters' independence and voters' competence, hence between the two premises of most jury theorems; (ii) that the (asymptotic) conclusion that `huge groups are infallible', reached by many jury theorems, is an artifact of unjustified premises; and (iii) that the (non- asymptotic) conclusion that `larger groups are more reliable', also reached by many jury theorems, is not an artifact and should be regarded as the more adequate formal rendition of the `wisdom of crowds'. 1 Introduction Jury theorems form the technical core of arguments for the `wisdom of crowds', the idea that large democratic decision-making bodies outperform small undemocratic ones when it comes to identifying factually correct alternatives. The popularity of jury theorems has spread across various disciplines such as economics, politi- cal science, philosophy, and computer science. A `jury theorem' is a mathematical theorem about the probability of correctness of majority decisions between two al- ternatives. The existence of an objectively correct (right, better) alternative is the main metaphysical assumption underlying jury theorems. This involves an epis- temic, outcome-based rather than purely procedural conception of democracy: the goal of democratic decision-making is to `track the truth', not to fairly represent 1 people's views or preferences (Cohen 1986).