The Twenty-First Century Jury: Worst of Times or Best of Times

I am pleased to be invited to reflect on the contemporary American jury for this issue of the Criminal Law Brief. In thinking about legal developments, new research findings, and the continuing swirl of controversy over this venerable American institution, I observe the same paradoxical condition that Charles Dickens found in 18 entury London: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of imes.” There is evidence of both the expansion of jury trial ights, yet contraction of jury trials. Research evidence ndicates that juries perform well, yet the 21 Century jury confronts more complex decision making tasks and continuing doubts about its fairness and competence.