Race in the Jury Box: Affirmative Action in Jury Selection (New Direction Crime Justice)

Discusses race-conscious jury selection and highlights strategies for achieving racially mixed juries.

Race in the Jury Box focuses on the racially unrepresentative jury as one of the remaining barriers to racial equality and a recurring source of controversy in American life. Because members of minority groups remain underrepresented on juries, various communities have tried race-conscious jury selection, termed “affirmative jury selection.” The authors argue that affirmative jury selection can insure fairness, verdict legitimization, and public confidence in the justice system. This book offers a critical analysis and systematic examination of possible applications of race-based jury selection, examining the public perception of these measures and their constitutionality. The authors make use of court cases, their own experiences as jury consultants, and jury research, as well as statistical surveys and analysis. The work concludes with the presentation of four strategies for affirmative jury selection.