Jury Trials: Further Thoughts

Print this page

My post on jury trials generated some very useful discussion; I'd like to post some of the questions I received to clarify what I think about jury trials. I want to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to add comments to the blog, or to contact TI Georgia directly. Q: Are you criticizing the limited PR efforts by the government on jury trials? A: No. I recognize that it is not easy to go into great detail on jury procedures in one TV ad, but I believe the government could also make more information available. I want to make sure that people interested in learning more about jury trials can easily find that information. I plan to follow the jury trial issues in the future and write in more detail about jury trial procedures in the coming weeks. Q: What do you recommend that the government do to make more information about jury trials available? A: A follow-up TV ad (or series of ads) could address some of the key questions about jury trials: Can juries determine the sentence? How will jurors be selected? How will jurors be protected? The government has used social ads pretty effectively for multiple reforms, and they could do it for this as well. Many people already have these questions and concerns, and the government needs to conduct an information campaign that is informative, accessible, and that addresses the concerns that are common-sense and already present. Q: Are you implying that jury trials are a PR stunt designed to increase trust in the judiciary? A: No. Boosting trust in the judiciary has been openly stated to be one of the reasons behind introducing jury trials by several people, but I never meant to imply that this was a PR stunt. So, for many people, and me personally, there is hope that the jurors will be able to be honest, and try to do their best; this would be a real change, not just a PR stunt.