How are jurors selected?

How Are Jurors Selected for Trials?

Serving on a jury is a critical civic duty in the United States legal system. But before jurors are finalized for a trial, they go through a comprehensive selection process known as voir dire.

Voir dire involves questioning potential jurors to determine their suitability and weed out any biases. Understanding how this process works provides insight into how fair and impartial juries are assembled.

Assembling the Jury Pool

The first step in choosing a jury is assembling a jury pool. This is a group of prospective jurors randomly selected from voter registrations, driver’s license records and other lists.

• Jury summons are mailed out at least three weeks before trials to give notice.
• Those selected for the pool can request an excuse or postponement if they have a valid hardship.

Bringing in the Jury Panel

On the trial date, the jury pool reports to the courthouse. The pool is brought to the courtroom where voir dire will take place.

• The judge and attorneys ask questions to screen for biases, conflicts, and ability to serve.
• Based on responses, some are dismissed from the pool.
• Those remaining form the jury panel that will be subject to further examination as the lawyers select the final jury.

Questioning Through Voir Dire

Voir dire involves two basic types of questions:

• General questions asked of the full panel to introduce the case.
• Individual questions posed to each juror by the judge and attorneys.

Questions probe for biases about the issues, parties, attorneys or witnesses in the case. The goal is to identify jurors who can be fair and follow the law.

Challenges for Cause

If voir dire reveals a juror has a bias or conflict that prevents them from serving impartially, the attorneys or judge can issue a “challenge for cause” to dismiss them.

Common reasons for challenges for cause include:

• Admitting bias or inability to be fair
• Having a relationship with a trial participant
• Financial or personal interest in the case outcome
• Not being able to understand legal concepts

There is no limit to challenges for cause as long as the judge agrees there are valid grounds.

Peremptory Challenges

Attorneys also have a limited number of “peremptory challenges” they can use to strike potential jurors without needing to provide a reason. These are based on intuition and strategy.

• However, peremptory challenges cannot be used to strike jurors based solely on race, ethnicity or gender.

Swearing in the Jury

Once the challenges are complete, the final 12-15 jurors are sworn in. They take an oath to uphold the law and issue a verdict based only on the evidence.

• Alternate jurors may also be chosen in case any jurors need to withdraw during the trial.

Jury Selection Strategies

Attorneys have different approaches to voir dire based on their trial strategy. For example:

• Prosecutors look for law-and-order types who support police.
• Defense lawyers seek skeptics of law enforcement and people likely to question the prosecution.
• In civil cases, plaintiffs want sympathetic jurors, while defendants want pragmatic skeptics.

Experienced trial lawyers develop a rapport with jurors during questioning to gain insights into how they think.

Biases Can Affect Selection

While voir dire is designed to eliminate biased jurors, some attorneys try to exploit biases by striking demographics less likely to side with them:

• Prosecutors may exclude minorities and young people.
• Defense lawyers sometimes strike older conservative jurors.

But judges and the opposing counsel can challenge any dismissals that seem purely based on demographics.

Length of Jury Selection

Voir dire often takes a few hours, but high-profile trials can involve weeks of intensive juror examination. Factors impacting the length include:

• Size of the jury pool
• Complexity of the case
• Number of pretrial publicity issues
• How much attorneys already know about the pool

Judges try to limit questioning to keep jury selection focused and efficient.

Conclusion

Serving on a jury is a vital civic duty. While voir dire cannot eliminate all biases, it helps ensure fair cross-sections of society have their day in court.

References

[1] Juror Selection Process – United States Courts

[2] How Courts Work – Jury Selection

[3] Voir Dire | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

[4] Communicating with Juries: How to Draft More Understandable Jury Instructions

[5] Advanced Voir Dire & Jury Selection (Part 1) – Litigating Complex Technology