Dbq Jury System Essay

“Is the jury system still a good idea?” Is a question heavily discussed among all people. No, the jury system is no longer a good idea for trying cases. To begin with, the act of juror selection is tricky and can heavily sway the verdict. There are too many issues such as personal beliefs, personal experiences and mental health. Second ,those selected are subjected to unfavorable conditions such as confinement, time constraints and having to reach a unanimous verdict. And lastly, maintaining an untainted jury is becoming more difficult because of resources like television, newspapers and internet.

Recruitment of any kind is heavily frowned upon, and to believe that our legal system takes part in it is blasphemous. In Document F a “recruiter” of the court system holds an interview with a potential jury

member. During the interview, the recruiter asks the citizen questions about a recent crime such as, “have you heard of this homicide” and “have you read the newspaper accounts of it” and the citizen answers yes to all of the questions. Without hesitation, the recruiter informs the citizen that he is not accounted for in the jury. This action is unruly. It’s undetermined what information someone could provide to the court to influence a decision.
In reference to twelve citizens being chosen to serve on jury duty for a number of days that can turn into weeks.

Twelve human beings are being cramped together in a small box is stressful, personal space is being invaded.In Document F: Cartoon 1, portrays the attention span of twelve people serving in jury listening to a case. Out of all twelve, roughly three to four people are actually paying attention. This is a clear representation of how real people are in jury. To connect with this In Document B a journalist writing to the times of London, England explains that it is obvious of how being closely compact with eleven other people would drive themselves out of focus when they quote “any twelve men and women placed in a cramped box and holed up there for days or even weeks at a time you would rightly think that I had taken leave of my senses.” Interpreting this, he is saying the agony from this compact box and sitting there for what could seem for forever would stress them out and potentially start to become deranged. The pressure for any one person make a correct choice when they are in this state, and to make the decision of someone’s guilt is nearly

impossible.
Lastly, due to the accessibility of information through news outlets such as newspapers, television and the internet more people are aware of current events than ever before. From the Background Essay, the information of the case can easily be spread out from just local gossip such as media like television and newspapers. High profile cases that tend to attract more media attention often struggle to find an untainted pool of people that have not been exposed to circumstantial evidence about cases.
Closing, the jury system is not a good idea anymore. A better solution would be for only the judge to decide someone’s verdict. Judges attend school and obtain years of studying crime and law. A judge’s decision would be more constitutionally and more logical. In addition to this, the conditions in which a jury is under, doesn’t support them completely to make the most precise observations and answers. Judges also plead to remain unbiased about any court case, no matter the situation. Allowing a jury to develop their own opinions and feel a particular way about a certain case would cause disruption among the jury.