Jury Duty
Following are activities that tour guides, teachers, lawyers, judges, courthouse coordinators, and others may use to teach students about the role of the jury in the American judicial system. Facilitators are encouraged to involve the students in small-group discussions and question-and-answer sessions with experts. Lecture-style presentations should be avoided.
Introduction
Historic Background and Contemporary Questions
Grand Jury
Voir Dire (Criminal)
Mock Trial (Civil)
The Structure, Role, and Function of a Jury
Introduction
Movie: Twelve Angry Men
Audience: High school students
Purpose: As an introduction to the jury, students watch the movie Twelve Angry Men. The classic and modern-day versions of this film are available at video stores. In the movie, jurors in a capital case weight the evidence for and against convicting the defendant, knowing that a guilty verdict may well send a man to death row. The life-and-death weight of the issues reminds the students that jury service is an important civic duty and that the decisions they will make as future jurors may have a dramatic impact on the lives of people who are involved in the cases that they will be asked to judge.
Historic Background and Contemporary Questions
Activity: The Importance of the Jury
Audience: High school students
Purpose: Students are given a set of primary documents, including the Declaration of Independence (particularly, the section in which the founders note King George's denial of the colonists' right to a trial by jury as one of the grievances meriting a break with England), applicable portions of the U.S. Constitution, and other articles on the historic importance of the jury to the American legal system. Students discuss the role of the jury in America in the past, its current role in American society, and its future role.
Activity: Famous Jury Trials and Their Impact on History
Audience: High school students
Purpose: Students are provided with a brief description of the jury's role in several famous cases that have had a lasting impact on the American jury system, such as those listed below. After reading the material, the students are asked to discuss the impact that these cases have had on the role of the jury in America.
- Peter Zenger trial (truth is a defense to libel).
- Trial of British soldiers in the Boston Massacre (everyone is entitled to a fair trial).
- Aaron Burr treason trial (treason trials are not meant to punish political enemies).
Grand Jury
Activity: Is there Enough Evidence to Indict?
Audience: Middle school and high school students
Purpose: Students are impaneled as a federal grand jury. In the course of an hour, an assistant U.S. Attorney presents information to the grand jury concerning the alleged illegal activities of persons who have been charged with a crime. After the U.S. Attorney is finished, the grand jurors are asked to decide whether there is enough evidence to officially indict the accused persons of committing a federal offense and bring them to trial. If a grand jury decides that there is enough evidence, it returns a written decision called a "true bill" and the indictment is sent to court. If not, the jury returns a "no true bill." A defense attorney provides the perspective of the defense. The attorney may want to simulate a defense attorney conferring with a witness.
Voir Dire (Criminal)
Activity: Fill Out Jury Questionnaire
Audience: Middle school and high school students
Purpose: Students fill out an abbreviated juror questionnaire as a way to become familiar with the jury selection process. Afterward, a lawyer and courthouse staff should explain how the questionnaire is used, describe the jury selection process, and answer questions about what to expect while serving on a jury.
Activity: Voir Dire Simulation
Audience: Middle school and high school students
Purpose: Students are members of a jury pool in a criminal case, but they do not know the nature of the case. Two lawyers, one for the defendant and one for the government, ask questions of the potential jurors based on their responses in the juror questionnaires. During the process, the lawyers use their challenges for cause and peremptory challenges to excuse jurors whom they think are biased against their clients. After the jury is selected and impaneled, the lawyers explain the reasoning for their actions to all of the students. The lawyers also explain certain factors that may not be considered during voir dire (especially in the use of peremptory challenges), that is, a juror's race, sex, and so on, and discuss applicable Supreme Court cases, for example, Batson v. Kentucky, J.E.B. v. Alabama, and others.
Mock Trial (Civil)
Activity: Mock Trial Simulation
Audience: A mock trial could be developed locally for specific age groups from grade school through high school. The types of roles included would depend on the participating age group.
Purpose: Given a prepared scenario and script, students—with the help of lawyers and court staff--put on a brief mock civil trial for a jury of students. Courthouse agencies lend appropriate props, including judicial robes, exhibits and evidence props, prison uniforms, badges, pretrial and probation forms, electronic monitoring equipment, U.S. marshals, canine unit dogs, and so on. As many students as possible take on the courtroom and behind-the-scenes roles. These roles might include pretrial and probation officers, clerks, law clerks, police officers, Alcohol Firearms and Tobacco officers—even journalists. At the conclusion of the mock trial, the students retire to a separate room to deliberate. They return to the courtroom, announce their verdict, and explain their reasoning.
The Structure, Role, and Function of a Jury
Activity: What is a Jury?
Audience: High school students
Purpose: Students are asked to read selected Supreme Court cases (such as those listed below) that state the situations in which a person is entitled to a jury trial as well as how many people constitute a jury.
1. Duncan v. Louisiana (criminal defendant is entitled to a jury in cases where imprisonment for more than six months is authorized).
2. Apodaco v. Oregon (a jury's verdict does not have to be unanimous in most instances to convict a criminal defendant).
3. Florida v. Williams (12-person juries are not required by the Constitution).
After reading these cases, the students break up into groups and debate how court decisions have shaped the structure, role, and function of a jury. The small groups report out to the entire group about their findings.