The jury evolved from self-informing locals into disinterested evidence-weighers
Evidence
The American jury has its roots in the English jury, which originated before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Juries in England were initially composed of local residents who had personal knowledge of the dispute at trial. Only gradually did the notion develop that jurors should be disinterested citizens who decide cases solely on the basis of evidence presented at trial. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1405
Categorization
- DEFINE: Traces the historical origin and meaning of the jury as an institution, a core term for the course.
- XREF: connects to: The historic English jury had local knowledge and was subject to judicial coercion. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 867; Diverse juries erase the disparity in how carefully evidence is weighed; Jurors punish in-group members harsher than outsiders when evidence is strong — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 857 (+14 more)
Broader Connections
- English juries originally judged from personal knowledge, not presented evidence
#corroborates(1.00) - Jurors punish in-group members harsher than outsiders when evidence is strong
#contradicts(0.90) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 857 - Jurors decide cases based on personal sympathy rather than facts
#contradicts(0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1451 - Jury verdicts turn on sympathy for the accused more than case facts
#contradicts(0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 886 - Diverse juries erase the disparity in how carefully evidence is weighed
#complicates(0.85) - Individual juror decisions do not simply aggregate into deliberating jury outcomes
#complicates(0.85) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 913 - Jurors scrutinize evidence more carefully when the defendant is a minority
#expands(0.85) - Capital juries force untrained citizens into life-or-death moral decisions
#expands(0.85) - Expert witnesses can undermine their credibility through selective memory during trials.
#complicates(0.80) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 1679 - Jurors displace guilt onto the legal system’s decisions
#complicates(0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2001 - One side’s refusal to follow jury-selection research can shape a trial’s outcome
#complicates(0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 835 - Trial procedure itself biases jurors toward the death penalty after a guilty verdict
#complicates(0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2004 - Demographics weakly predict how individual jurors actually vote on the same evidence
#complicates(0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 843 - Selective evidence can mislead juries about the case’s credibility.
#complicates(0.75) — Lynley Hood, A City Possessed, 2644 - Voter-roll sourcing skews jury pools toward higher socioeconomic status
#complicates(0.75) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 881