Have you ever served on a jury?
If so, were you satisfied that justice was done?
How well did you get to know the other jurors?
By the end of the process were most of the jurors pleased with the outcome?
What about the process if anything would you like to see changed?
Have you ever participated in a criminal jury trial as a defendant or in a civil jury trial as a defendant or
plaintiff? How did you feel about the jury in your case?
Did the outcome feel fair to you? Describe.
If you had to go to trial would you rather have a judge or jury decide?
Does 12 seem like the right number for a jury to you? If not do you think there should be more or
fewer and why?
Right now jury decisions must be unanimous which sometimes makes the deliberations very long.
Do you think this should be changed to a simple majority vote, or 2/3 or 3/4 majority vote? Explain.
How good do you think you are at judging whether someone is telling the truth or not?
Have you ever completely believed someone's story only to discover later that they had deceived you?
If you have been deceived in this way how would this affect your evaluation of evidence in a jury trial?
Would you be more likely to depend upon the opinion of other jurors than your own?
If you knew that someone on trial was guilty but you also knew that the penalty was something you considered too harsh for the crime and not at all helpful in terms of rehabilitation would you vote against their conviction?
For purposes of coming to a decision about someone's guilt or innocence do you think information about their life history should be supplied to the jury?
Do you think wealthy people have a better chance of being declared innocent because they can afford to hire better lawyers?
If so, how could this be corrected?
Jurors are generally kept isolated from news about their case and forbidden to discuss it with anyone except other jurors.
Do you think this interdiction is successful and useful? Explain.
Are there any cases, famous or otherwise, where you wish you had been on the jury, and if so, why?