VERDICT ASSESSING THE VICIL JURY SYSTEM

1 (p1): 1. Introduction
22 (p2): 2. The History and Objectives of the Civil Jury System
61 (p3): 3. The Regulatory Function of the Civil Jury
103 (p4): 4. Justifying the Civil Jury
137 (p5): 5. Inside the Black Box: What Empirical Research Tells Us about Decisionmaking by Civil Juries
181 (p6): 6. Civil Juries and Complex Cases: Taking Stock after Twelve Years
248 (p7): 7. Attitudes toward the Civil Jury: A Crisis of Confidence?
282 (p8): 8. What Jurors Think: Expectations and Reactions of Citizens Who Serve as Jurors
306 (p9): 9. Mapping the Debate on Jury Reform
341 (p10): 10. Improving the Quality of Jury Decisionmaking
378 (p11): 11. Recent Innovations in Civil Jury Trial Procedures
399 (p12): 12. The Modern American Jury: Reflections on Veneration and Distrust
414 (p13): 13. Restructuring the Traditional Civil Jury: The Effects of Changes in Composition and Procedures
460 (p14): 14. Jury Service and Community Representation
500 (p15): 15. Finding the Factfinders
531 (p16): Contributors
533 (p17): Index

The right to a jury trial is a fundamental feature of the American justice system. In recent years, however, aspects of the civil jury system have increasingly come under attack. Many question the ability of lay jurors to decide complex scientific and technical questions that often arise in civil suits. Others debate the high and rising costs of litigation, the staggering delay in resolving disputes, and the quality of justice. Federal and state courts, crowded with growing numbers of criminal cases, complain about handling difficult civil matters. As a result, the jury trial is effectively being challenged as a means for resolving disputes in America. Juries have been reduced in size, their selection procedures altered, and the unanimity requirement suspended. For many this development is viewed as necessary. For others, it arouses deep concern.

In this book, a distinguished group of scholars, attorneys, and judges examine the civil jury system and…