Jury Bias Quotes

One often-cited abuse of the [jury] nullification power is the acquittal by bigoted juries of whites who commit crimes (lynching, for example) against blacks. That repellent practice cannot be directly arrested without jeopardizing important constitutional protections.

A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.

Now it is clear, that if the government can exclude, on account either of their opinions or feelings, any persons thus drawn by lot, the trial is no longer a trial by 'the country,' but only by a portion of the country.

A jury is composed of twelve men of average ignorance.

I've served on five different juries, and many of them were bonkers in their own way.

No papist may serve on any jury in the trial of any suit between a protestant and a papist, and any challenge to such a juror being papist shall be allowed.

The government itself violates the law when it leaks grand jury proceedings in order to influence the prospective jury pool

I did not see any major issues other than the jury substitutions. I can't know whether there's a problem there, until I read the transcript from the in-chambers conference, when those jurors were excused.

I felt grand juries were illegal and coercive.

A fox should not be on the jury at a goose's trial.

When you see a lawyer trying to pick a smart jury, you know he's got a strong case.

Women should not be allowed on juries where the accused is a stud.

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

The average juror is not Mr. Spock. If he were, then a trial-court judge's job would be much easier. He could instruct the jury in broad strokes - instructing only as to the bare elements of the crime, perhaps - and be confident that the jury would deduce all of the finer-grained implications that must logically follow.

When the American people saw the LA riots and crowds of Blacks cheering O.J. Simpson (who was acquitted by the almost all Black jury), they received a peek into their future.

Jews can't serve on juries because they insist they're guilty.

Thousands of people plead guilty to crimes every year in the United States because they know that the odds of a jury's believing their word over a police officer's are slim to none.

Currently, we're finding that about 75 percent of potential jurors have anger or deep-seated hatred toward anyone associated with Enron.

I hated cracking the whip, and these juries turn into political things.

The jury passing on the prisoner's life may in the sworn twelve have a thief or two guiltier than him they try.

It seems that in Baltimore, one of the most violent cities in America, jurors are far more reluctant to convict criminal defendants than in the suburban enclaves that ring the city.

We should not televise trials. There's only one purpose for a criminal trial. It's to determine whether or not the defendant committed the crime. Anything that interferes or has the potential of interfering with that should automatically be prohibited.

The verdict of a jury is the a priori opinion of that juror who smokes the worst cigars.

Good-looking individuals are treated better than homely ones in virtually every social situation, from dating to trial by jury.

It has long been noticed that juries are pitiless for robbery and full of indulgence for infanticide. A question of interest, my dear Sir! The jury is afraid of being robbed and has passed the age when it could be a victim of infanticide.