Abstract

This article briefly discusses the difficulty courts face in balancing the privacy of citizens summoned for jury service with the rights of litigants and the public to information about those individuals. I propose that focusing on the content of the information re­quested of prospective jurors and the purposes for which juror infor­mation is used by courts provides a more helpful analysis than the legal framework traditionally employed in case law. Specifically, I argue that distinguishing between information that is relevant and information that is not relevant to the fairness or im­partiality of prospective jurors should be the primary analytical framework for courts seeking to pro­tect the legitimate privacy interests of prospective jurors. This approach is not only more likely to help those courts that recognize and wish to protect the legitimate privacy expec­tations of citizens summoned for jury service, but will also garner greater public support for and un­derstanding of the legitimate pur­pose of voir dire questioning and the courts' and litigants' needs for candid responses to those questions.

This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2001

Publication Information

85 Judicature 18-25 (2001)

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