Random House New Releases - Law - Jury

American Juries by Neil Vidmar

2007-10-31T00:30:00-05:00

American Juries The Verdict
Written by Neil Vidmar

Hardcover, 428 pages | Prometheus Books | Social Science - Criminology; Law - Jury | $32.99 | 978-1-59102-588-7 (1-59102-588-5)

Although the right to trial by jury is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, in recent years both criminal and civil juries have been criticized as incompetent, biased, and irresponsible. For example, the O.J. Simpson criminal jury’s verdict produced a racial divide in opinions about that trial. And many Americans still hold strong views about the jury that awarded millions of dollars to a woman who spilled a cup of McDonald's coffee on herself. It’s said that there are "judicial hellholes" where local juries provide "jackpot justice" in medical malpractice and product liability cases with corporate defendants. Are these claims valid?
This monumental and comprehensive volume reviews over fifty years of empirical research on civil and criminal juries and returns a verdict that strongly supports the jury system. Rather than relying on anecdotes, Vidmar and Hans—renowned scholars of the jury system—place the jury system in its historical and contemporary context, giving the stories behind important trials while providing fact-based answers to critical questions. How do juries make decisions and how do their verdicts compare to those of trial judges and technical experts? What roles do jury consultants play in influencing trial outcomes? Can juries understand complex expert testimony? Under which circumstances do capital juries decide to sentence a defendant to die? Are juries biased against doctors and big business? Should juries be allowed to give punitive damages? How do juries respond to the insanity defense? Do jurors ignore the law?
Finally, the authors consider various suggestions for improving the way that juries are asked to carry out their duties. After briefly comparing the American jury to its counterparts in other nations, they conclude that our jury system, despite occasional problems, is, on balance, fair and democratic, and should remain an indispensable component of the judicial process for the foreseeable future.

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

2002-10-15T00:30:00-05:00

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett

Trade Paperback, 208 pages | Vintage | Law - Jury; Law | $14.00 | 978-0-375-72751-1 (0-375-72751-5)

When Princeton historian D. Graham Burnett answered his jury duty summons, he expected to spend a few days catching up on his reading in the court waiting room. Instead, he finds himself thrust into a high-pressure role as the jury foreman in a Manhattan trial. There he comes face to face with a stunning act of violence, a maze of conflicting evidence, and a parade of bizarre witnesses. But it is later, behind the closed door of the jury room, that he encounters the essence of the jury experience — he and eleven citizens from radically different backgrounds must hammer consensus out of confusion and strong disagreement. By the time he hands over the jury’s verdict, Burnett has undergone real transformation, not just in his attitude toward the legal system, but in his understanding of himself and his peers.

Offering a compelling courtroom drama and an intimate and sometimes humorous portrait of a fractious jury, A Trial by Jury is also a finely nuanced examination of law and justice, personal responsibility and civic duty, and the dynamics of power and authority between twelve equal people.

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

2002-01-22T00:30:00-05:00

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett

eBook | Vintage | Law - Jury; Law | $13.99 | 978-0-375-41425-1 (0-375-41425-8)

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

2001-09-11T00:30:00-05:00

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett
Read by D. Graham Burnett

Unabridged Audiobook Download | Random House Audio | Law - Jury; Law | $12.95 | 978-0-375-42041-2 (0-375-42041-X)

Jury duty happens to everyone. When the call came to Graham Burnett, a young historian, he had a shock in store. A Trial by Jury is his startling account of how performing this familiar civic duty challenged him in ways he never thought possible and turned into one of the most consuming experiences of his life.

Burnett begins with the story of the trial: a body with multiple stab wounds found in a New York apartment, intimations of cross-dressing, male prostitution, mistaken identity. And then, the unexpected drama: Burnett finds himself appointed the foreman, with the responsibility of leading the increasingly frenetic deliberations within the black box of the jury room.

Soon he is sequestered—which is to say marooned—with eleven others, a group of people who view their task, and often one another, with palpable distaste. Among his colleagues: a vacuum-cleaner repairman cum urban missionary, a young actress, and a man apparently floundering in a borderland between real life and daytime television.

As Burnett steers the contentious politics of their temporary no-exit society toward the verdict, he undergoes an unexpected awakening. Having been plucked from his cozy nest in the world of books and ideas and then plunged into the netherworld of lurid crime, he learns the limits of what intellect alone can accomplish in the real world. Above all, Burnett discovers firsthand the terrifying ultimate power of the state and the agonies of being asked to do justice within the rigid dictates of the law.

Part true crime, part political treatise, part contemplation of right, wrong, and the power of words, A Trial by Jury is a mesmerizing narrative of one man’s encounter with crime and punishment, American style. It profoundly affects one’s sense of the privileges—and the perils—of citizenship.

From the Hardcover edition.

Random House New Releases - Law - Jury

American Juries by Neil Vidmar

American Juries The VerdictWritten by Neil Vidmar

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury Written by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury Written by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury Written by D. Graham Burnett Read by D. Graham Burnett

American Juries The Verdict
Written by Neil Vidmar

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett

A Trial by Jury
Written by D. Graham Burnett
Read by D. Graham Burnett