Early jury simulation research, reviewed and meta-anyalysed by MacCoun and Kerr (1988), suggested a leniency asymmetry in criminal jury deliberations such that a given faction favoring acquittal will tend to have a greater chance of prevailing than would an equivalent sized faction favoring conviction. More recently, a handful of field studies of actual juries have reported either no such lenie...

This commentary responds to claims that research by Cheryl Thomas ‘shows’ no problem with rape myths in English and Welsh juries. We critique the claim on basis of ambiguous survey design, a false distinction between ‘real’ jurors other participants, conflation attitudes relation abstract versus applied myths, misleading interpretation data. Ultimately, we call for balanced appraisal individual...

In a homogeneous jury, in which each vote is correct with the same probability, and each pair of votes correlates with the same correlation coefficient, there exists a correlation-robust voting quota, such that the probability of a correct verdict is independent of the correlation coefficient. For positive correlation, an increase in the correlation coefficient decreases the probability of a co...

We propose a new paradigm for public participation in urban planning, a field which presents significant challenges for public understanding and participation. Our approach is based on leveraging the rich diversity of meaning associated with cultural gestures, traditions, folklore, and rituals, and using them in augmented reality systems, in order for citizens’ to explore, understand, and commu...

This paper reports on investigation and research explaining possible factors that affect the final award amount given by juries in civil cases. The two key variables examined are urbanicity and median household income. Data on civil trials collected through the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics’ The Civil Justice Survey of State Courts provided the primary data s...

We consider two basic aspects of juries that must decide on guilt verdicts, namely the size of juries and their composition in situations where society consists of sub-populations. We refer to the actual jury that needs to provide a verdict as the 'first jury', and as their judgement should reflect that of society, we consider an imaginary 'second jury' to represent society. The focus is mostly...

Since its inception, evidence policymakers have vacillated with respect to whether the rule barring hearsay evidence at trial is a doctrine designed to promote decisional accuracy or a doctrine designed to promote procedural justice. To the extent that policymakers view the rule barring hearsay evidence as promoting decisional accuracy, the rationale for this view stems from the “testimonial tr...