Trial judges select jury instructions from competing versions drafted by the parties’ attorneys.

Evidence

Judges do not draw up these instructions all by themselves. Rather, they rely on attorneys for the parties to draw up the instructions that they wish the jury to receive. The attorneys themselves tend to rely on volumes containing “model jury instructions,” which they then tailor to the facts of the case. From the alternative versions of instructions the attorneys submit on each legal issue in the case, the judge selects the instructions that seem most appropriate, modifying them if necessary. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1403

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the adversary-driven process by which instructions reach the jury, including the role of model instruction volumes.
• XREF: Links to the course theme of judges as policymakers — selecting among competing legal formulations is an underappreciated discretionary act. — connects to: Attorneys, not judges, draft proposed jury instructions that judges select from — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 864; Attorneys draft jury instructions that judges select among and may reject with appealable error — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1403; Judges create law when forced to choose among competing interpretations. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 196 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Attorneys draft jury instructions that judges select among and may reject with appealable error #corroborates (1.00) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1403
• Judges create law when forced to choose among competing interpretations. #complicates (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 196
• Jury instructions define the offenses, defenses, and burden of proof governing a verdict. #expands (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1402
• Judges create and reshape legal rules by reasoning analogically across cases, not by deduction #complicates (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2542
• Judges decide law while juries decide facts and apply it #expands (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1409