Implicit Bias and the American Juror

Authors

Jennifer K. Elek, National Center for State Courts
Paula Hannaford-Agor, National Center for State CourtsFollow

Abstract

On March 4, 2015, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report of findings in its investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, criminal-justice system. The report con­tributed to the still-growing body of literature acknowledging contemporary racial inequality and recognizing that these dis­parities may not be explained on the basis of people's explicit, intentional biases alone. Although the possible effects of implicit bias on justice-sys­tem outcomes should be considered at each decision point in case processing, we focus in this article on the potential effects of implicit bias in the decision making of everyday American citizens who are randomly selected to serve on grand juries and in jury trials. We begin with a brief explanation of the con­cept of implicit bias and examine one type of intervention that some believe could address this subtler form of racial bias in jury decision making: a specialized jury instruction.

This abstract has been taken from the body of the article.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Publication Information

51 Court Review 116-121 (2015)

Repository Citation

Elek, Jennifer K. and Hannaford-Agor, Paula, "Implicit Bias and the American Juror" (2015). Faculty Publications. 2327.
https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/2327