meaning and implicationsof implicit bias in order to make jurors aware of how their unconscious beliefseffect their decision making process (Royer, Hido and Slotnick, n.d)1as being aware of subconscious bias may motivate them to be impartial.
3) Creating diverse juriesThere should beefforts to create diverse juries, meaning that there should be a variety ofpeople of different ethnicities, religions and social backgrounds. This is becausethe more jurors are aware of race, religion or ethnicity being an importantpart of the case, the more they want to appear unbiased and this may result ina fairer and more impartial trial. (Royer, Hido and Slotnick, n.
d)2 For instance, the presence of nonwhites on a jury allows for more diverseperspectives to be taken into account, and also increases awareness ofrace-related concerns among the jury so that a more thorough, objective and factuallyaccurate discussion of the evidence is encouraged. (Elek and Hannaford-Agor, 2014) 3 4) Challenge for Cause andPeremptory StrikesThe previouslymentioned methods describe how implicit bias may be detected or reduced. Now wecome to the issue of removing jurors who have displayed implicitly biasedbehaviors. Jurors who demonstrate bias may be removed from the jury pool byattorneys in two ways: challenge for cause and peremptory strikes. (Lehmannand Smith, 2013)4 Achallenge is a request to remove a person from the jury, and if this request is based on aspecific reason, it is called a challengefor cause. (Criminal.
lawyers.com, n.d.) 5This reason may be because the juror has displayed qualities of prejudice andan inability to be impartial. Once the issue is detected, the challenge is thendebated amongst the attorneys and the judge, and if the judge rules in favor ofthe strike, the potential juror is dismissed.
Best services for writing your paper according to Trustpilot
(Lehmann and Smith,2013)6 Attorneys can strike an unlimitednumber of potential jurors for cause, as long as the judge is convinced thatthe reason for disqualification is valid. (Lehmann and Smith, 2013)7
