Jury System Is Ineffective Because Essay

The jury system in inefficient because it relies on compulsory civil service that most people wish to avoid. Since long deliberations add to the length of jury service, jurors serving compulsory terms have a natural incentive to reach a verdict as soon as possible, which often influences the decision of minority opinion holders to join the majority irrespective of their beliefs and wholly apart from the separate issue of social pressure and coercion by dominant group members during deliberations.

The often-repeated phrase that "juries are composed of the only people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty" may be an exaggeration, but there is some truth to it, simply because people with greater knowledge and awareness of laws and government administration do tend to justify excusals from jury service more often than those with less sophisticated understanding and awareness of governmental procedures and laws.

The juror system is greatly susceptible to undue influence because instructions by judges to disregard stricken testimony are often ignored by juries.The system used in several European countries where juries consist of professional jurors with training in legal and procedural issues is much more effective and probably results in better verdicts than compulsory jury service.

Even so, judgments rendered by experienced professionals like judges are more likely to represent justice than decisions of lay people......