The substantive objective of this course is to understand thoroughly the American jury system. It has become very trendy in recent years to discuss and evaluate American juries and their verdicts, particularly in the wake of controversial cases such as the O.J. Simpson and Rodney King criminal trials; the McDonald’s Coffee civil trial and tobacco litigation, in which huge damage awards have been directed by juries; and, the advent of Court TV and other broadcasting of courtroom events. However, the opinions of most Americans about controversial cases are based on little knowledge about how American juries actually work. From this course, you will emerge a citizen who actually knows something about the historical role of juries in the United States; about how the jury system fits with the political, legal, and human realities of contemporary American life; and, about the myriad of factors that may influence the deliberations and decisions made by juries. With this information, you will have the tools to formulate sound views about juries and their work in American law and politics.

This class has an analytic objective as well. A significant part of your edification as a student and future professional is to learn how to think, read and write critically. To this end, we will focus on asking questions, synthesizing information, developing new ideas and insights, and formulating arguments. We will develop these skills by talking, reading and writing a lot.

Examine the syllabus carefully to be sure that you are prepared to meet the requirements. It is your responsibility to have your questions about the course answered early in the semester and to commit to the expectations of the course.

Required Reading

Books:

1. Abramson, Jeffrey. 1994. We, The Jury. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press).

2. Conrad, Clay S. 1998. Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press.

3. Dwyer, William L. 2002. In the Hands of the People: The Trial Jury’s Origins, Triumphs, Troubles, and Future in American Democracy. New York, New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Articles, Book Chapters, and Court Cases:

Selected on-line, E-reserve, and Library Reserve readings, some of which may be added as the semester progresses. For the Court cases, you should read the majority opinion unless otherwise indicated on the syllabus or in class; you may access the cases from among several sites that will be posted on Blackboard.

Blackboard

All students must have access to and know how to use Blackboard. Assignments and announcements will be made on Blackboard so you should check it before each class period. If you do not know how to use Blackboard, please let me know. 

Course Requirements

1. Attendance. Attendance is very important for this class because it is so small and requires daily class participation. I strongly encourage you to attend every class section and expect you to take personal responsibility for material covered in classes that you miss. I will not provide lecture notes nor do I give makeup lectures in office hours for missed class periods. If you know you will be absent during the semester, you should see me during the first week of classes. Attendance will not be incorporated into your final grade UNLESS a pattern of absences emerges.
    

2. Weekly Reading Assignments and Class Participation. All of the reading assignments are required unless otherwise indicated. You should read all of the required material and be prepared to be examined on it or write about it EVEN IF we do not discuss it in class. Everyone should be prepared to participate in class. Participation means asking, answering and commenting thoughtfully on class material. It does NOT mean talking just to hear your own voice! Additionally, everyone will have an opportunity to speak in class. This means that students who contribute frequently to our discussion may be asked at times to refrain from speaking so that others may participate. I do not want to grade participation, but if problems arise, I will deduct up to 5% off your total course grade for nonparticipation.
   

3. Exams. There will be two midterm exams to be taken at home (see Course Outline below for due dates). Each exam will consist of essay questions about the reading and lecture material, and any other class material. Additional details of the exam will be forthcoming. The second exam will be cumulative to the extent that understanding later parts of the course will depend on understanding the earlier parts. Each exam will be worth 25% for a total of 50% of your final course grade. See plagiarism and cheating policy below! 
   

4. Research Paper & Presentation. You will write a research paper and present your work in class. There will be three components to this assignment. A thesis paragraph and preliminary citation list will be worth 10%; the final draft of the paper will be 30%; and the oral presentation of the paper will be 10%; together they are worth 50% of your final course grade (see Course Outline below for due dates). See plagiarism and cheating policy below! More details about this assignment will be forthcoming.

Grading Policy

According to University policy (see http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/statem.htm#grade), final course grades earned in this class will be the following: A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, B=3.0, B-=2.7, C+=2.3, C=2.0, C-=1.7, D=1.0, F=0. Individual assignments in this course will be graded on a standard 100 point scale (or its equivalent) such that an A=95%, A-=92, B+=88, B=85, B-=82, etc. For both individual assignments and final course grades, you should understand that only excellent work will earn an A. If the work is good, it will earn a B, and satisfactory work will earn a C. You will earn Ds and Fs if your work is less than satisfactory or of extremely poor quality. If you fail to complete the work, you will earn a 0 for the assignment. There will be no Incomplete grades for this class.

Grading Written Assignments

You are responsible for well written papers and other assignments. As a result, all of your assignments will be graded for substance as well as for English and writing skills (which includes, but is not limited to, appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence/paragraph structure). This means that you will be graded down for these errors. [See http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/ugreg.htm  for more information on the University’s emphasis on the development of writing skills.] If you need help with your writing skills, please feel free to see me during office hours and/or visit the Academic Support Center (http://www.american.edu/ocl/asc/index.html).

Missed Assignments

All students are expected to be in class to turn in assignments, unless otherwise indicated on the syllabus. Assignments may NOT be submitted via email or on a floppy disc or CD. Make-ups and extensions will be allowed only for excused absences. These include the death of an immediate family member (parent or sibling), personal illness, a scheduled University event (for athletes or those involved in clubs that may take them off campus), or major religious holiday that is not formally recognized by the University’s calendar (see http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/provost for the Provost’s announcement of these holidays. You MUST provide written documentation for these absences. If you do not meet these conditions, you will receive a zero for the assignment. If you do meet these conditions, you will be able to make up assignments (the makeup assignment will be different than the original assignment) or turn in a paper as close to the original due date as possible (which may be before the due date if the nature of the absence allows). IMPORTANT: You should discuss make up assignments with me as soon as you are aware of them in office hours or by email; I will not discuss these arrangements in class. 

Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the time and date at which they are due, and that are NOT accompanied by an acceptable excuse will be addressed as follows. For every 24 hour period after the date and time that the assignment is due, the grade received for the assignment will be decreased by two (2) parts of a grade. The 24 hour periods include weekends. For example, if you turn in an A quality assignment on Tuesday before 12:45p, after it was due on Friday at 12:45p, then the assignment will be 3 days late and you will earn a C on that assignment. If you turn in a B quality paper at that same time, you will earn a D. 
You may submit a late assignment in only one of two ways: (1) directly into my hands, or (2) at the Department of Government office, where it must be time and date stamped (be aware of the office’s hours). 

Cheating and Plagiarism

The University has detailed rules about cheating and plagiarism. I encourage you to read these policies in the Academic Integrity Code at http://www.american.edu/american/registrar/aic.htm and ask questions if you are unsure about what constitutes cheating and plagiarism. Neither cheating nor plagiarism will be tolerated in this course. The fullest penalty allowed by the University will be sought if any student is found to be in violation of these rules on assignments for this course.

Manners

In consideration of your classmates and me, you should observe the following rules: (1) No cell phone or pager use. You may set them to silent, but you may not answer them in class. If you leave class to answer them, you shall not return to class. (2) No arriving late to class unless you have advanced approval. (3) No reading material not related to class. (4) No passing notes or chatting in class. You’re in college. Enough said. For any of these infractions, you will be warned only once; after the warning, you will be excused from class and docked 2 percentage points of your total course grade for each infraction at the end of the semester.

Course Outline and Reading Assignments (dates are approximate)

Tu 1/14 First Day Business and Introduction to the Course

Fri 1/17 Overview of Jury Issues
In-Class Video
*Conrad: Chapter 1

Tu 1/21 History: Early Conflict Resolution 
*Dwyer: Chapter 1 and 2

Fri 1/24 History: First Juries
*Dwyer: Chapter 3
*Green, Thomas A. 1985. Verdict According to Conscience. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press). Chapter 1, “The Criminal Trial Jury: Origins and Early Development – and Interpretive Overview.” Pp. 3-27. (On E-Reserves via Blackboard)

Tu 1/28 History: First Juries (cont’d)

Fri 1/31 History: The Constitution, Law, Politics, and the American Jury
*de Tocqueville, Alexis. 1835. Chapter XVI: “Causes Which Mitigate the Tyranny of the Majority in the United States.” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/1_ch16.htm). Accessed January 8, 2003. In Democracy in America. [On-line: In Search of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (http://www.tocqueville.org/).] 
*Dwyer: Chapters 6 

Tu 2/4 History: The Constitution, Law, Politics, and the American Jury (cont’d)
*Abramson: Introduction and Chapter 1 
*Duncan v. Louisiana (1968) (All opinions) http://laws.findlaw.com/us/391/145.html

Fri 2/7 History: The Constitution, Law, Politics, and the American Jury (cont’d)

Tu 2/11 Writing Research Papers

Due: Thesis paragraph for research paper with citations.

Fri 2/14 Independence: Jury Nullification
*Dwyer: Chapter 4 and 5
*Conrad: Chapter 2
*Abramson: Chapter 2 

Tu 2/18 Independence: Jury Nullification (cont’d)
*Conrad: Chapters 3, 4 and 5 

Fri 2/21 Independence: Jury Nullification (cont’d)
*Conrad: Chapters 6 and 9 

Distribute: Midterm Exam #1 Questions

Tu 2/25 Selection: Jury as a Cross Section 
*Jury Selection and Services Act of 1968: federal courts http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/1863.html 
*Taylor v. Louisiana (1975): state courts 
*Virginia’s Judicial System. “The Answer Book for Jury Service.” On-line at http://www.courts.state.va.us/jury/no-frame-toc.html. Accessed on January 8, 2003.

Fri 2/28 Due: Midterm Exam #1

Tu 3/4 Selection: Jurors as Peers
*Abramson: Chapter 3 

Fri 3/7 Selection: Jurors as Peers (cont’d)
*Strauder v. West Virginia (1879) 
*Batson v. Kentucky (1986) 
*Miller-El v. Cockrell (currently on the docket) 
*Dunham, Robert. 2001. “Death Penalty and Race: Partners in Injustice.” The Legal Intelligencer. November 30. P.7. On-Line at LexisNexis. Search in Legal Research à Legal News.

Tu 3/10-Fri 3/14 SPRING BREAK – No Classes!

Tu 3/18 Selection: Jurors of Peers (cont’d)
*Lockhart v. McCree (1986) 
*J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel T.B. (1994) 

Fri 3/21 Selection: Number of Jurors
*Williams v. Florida (1970) 
*Ballew v. Georgia (1978) 

Tu 3/25 Discuss Research Papers

Fri 3/28 Selection: Scientific Jury Selection
*Abramson: Chapters 4 
*Schlesinger, Howard G. and Laura Schlesinger. 2002. “Juryland: a frightening place.” New Jersey Lawyer. March 25. P.8. On-Line at LexisNexis. Search in Legal Research à Legal News.
*Adler, Stephen J. 1994. Chapter 3: “The Wizards of Odds.” In The Jury: Trial and Error in the American Courtroom. (New York, NY: Times Books). (On Reserve at Bender Library)

Tu 4/1 Decision Making: Unanimous v. Majority
*Abramson: Chapter 5 
*Apodaca v. Oregon (1972) 
*Burch v. Louisiana (1979) 
Begin Video: Twelve Lonely Men

Fri 4/4 Decision Making: Complex Civil Litigation
Finish Video: Twelve Lonely Men
*Adler: Chapter 4 

Tu 4/8 Decision Making: Race 
*Adler: Chapter 6 
*Conrad: Chapter 7 

Fri 4/11 Decision Making: The Death Penalty 
*Abramson: Chapter 6 
*Conrad: Chapters 8 

Tu 4/15 Decision Making: Principles of Sentencing
*Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000) (case syllabus only)
*Ring v. Arizona (2002) (case syllabus only) 

Distribute: Midterm Exam #2 Questions

Fri 4/18 Reform: Pros and Cons 
*Dwyer: Chapters 7, 8, 9 
*Conrad: Chapter 11 
*Vidmar, Neil, Sara Sun Beale, Mary Rose, and Laura F. Donnelly. 1997. “Should we rush to reform the criminal jury?” Judicature 80(6): 289-290. (E-reserves on Blackboard)

Tu 4/22 Due: Midterm Exam #2
In-Class Video

Fri 4/25 Due: Research Paper

Fri 5/2 Finals Week: Class Presentations