NEWS RELEASE
www.ncsconline.org

Contact: 
Lorri Montgomery
Director of Communications
National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525
lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us

More Americans Than Ever Serving on Juries

Most Comprehensive Study of Jury Practices Ever Conducted

Williamsburg, VA (May 1, 2007) – More than one-third of all Americans are likely to serve as jurors at some point in their lifetime, according to a newly released study by the Center for Jury Studies of the National Center for State Courts.  This is a dramatic increase from 1977, when only 6 percent of Americans served as trial jurors. The increase most likely is the result of more inclusive master jury lists, shorter terms of jury service, and other changes in court policies designed to make jury service more convenient and accessible to citizens, the survey reports.

The “State-of-the-States Survey of Jury Improvement Efforts” is the most comprehensive study of jury policies, operations and practices ever conducted. Download the report at www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/cjs/state-survey.html. For more information, contact Paula Hannaford-Agor, Director of the NCSC Center for Jury Studies at phannaford@ncsc.dni.us or 757-259-1556.  

In other findings from the study:

• State courts conduct approximately 149,000 jury trials each year. This number is substantially larger than previous estimates and suggests that the “vanishing trial” phenomenon may not be as widespread in state courts as recent reports suggest.

• Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia initiated some form of statewide jury improvement effort in the past 10 years, and more than half of local courts embarked on such efforts. Statewide efforts concentrated more on changes to state statutes and court rules, while local jury efforts focused on automation upgrades and improved efficiency in jury operations.

• In the majority of trials, judges and lawyers report that jurors were permitted to take notes and were given written copies of instructions. In approximately one in seven trials, jurors were also permitted to submit written questions to witnesses.  Recent empirical research has confirmed that these and other techniques can help jurors remember and understand evidence and improve juror satisfaction and confidence in deliberations.

The survey was conducted using three separate components:

• Documenting jury improvement efforts and the legal infrastructure for jury operations and practices on statewide basis for all 50 states and the District of Columbia; 

• Surveying 1,396 state trial courts about the terms and conditions of jury service in those localities; and 

• Compiling trial reports submitted by judges and lawyers describing the practices employed in nearly 12,000 jury trials conducted in state and federal courts between 2002 and 2006.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.

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National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA  23185-4147