The Seventh Circuit instituted a Commission to study the implementation of the ABA Jury Project.  The Northern District was heavily represented on the Commission.  The following Northern District Judges were members of the Commission:  Bucklo, Brown, Coar, Darrah, Denlow, Der-Yeghiayan, Gottschall, Holderman, Kennelly, Lefkow, Moran, Schenkier, St. Eve, and Zagel.  The Commission recently published its report — click here to read it.  The report describes a two phase analysis.  In the first phase, district judges tested the following seven ABA Principles:

1.       Twelve-Person Juries;

2.       Jury Selection Questionnaires;

3.       Preliminary Substantive Jury Instructions;

4.       Trial Time Limits;

5.       Juror Questions;

6.       Interim Trial Statements by Counsel; and

7.       Enhanced Jury Deliberations.

Other Principles, such as juror notebooks and allowing jurors to take notes, were already in such widespread use that they were not tested.  Click here for the Phase One Project manual detailing the principles, the rationales and authority behind them, and suggested procedures.  Phase One resulted in questionnaires from 22 participating federal trial judges, 74 participating attorneys and 303 jurors from 38 trials that used one or more of the seven Principles.  Based upon the analysis of Phase One results and questionnaires, the Commission focused Phase Two on the following four Principles:

1.       Juror Questions;

2.       Interim Trial Statements by Counsel;

3.       Twelve-Person Juries; and

4.       Preliminary Substantive Jury Instructions.

These Principles were chosen because of Phase One popularity (78% of jurors reported that being able to ask questions increased their satisfaction with the process) and because of a desire to study the Principles more.  Click here for the Phase Two manual.

In Phase Two, 108 jurors from 12 trials employing one or more of the Phase Two Principles filled out questionnaires.  In addition, 12 attorneys and 4 district judges that participated also filled out questionnaires.  The results are interesting, but more importantly create the opportunity to powerfully impact the trial system across the Seventh Circuit in ways that benefit all of the stakeholders in the trial process — the litigants, the jurors, the judge and the judge’s chambers, and the litigators.

All four of the Phase Two Principles showed significant benefits to the trial process.  83% of jurors reported an increased understanding of the facts when allowed to ask written questions through a judge — the questions were reworded to meet evidentiary rules.  And 75% of judges and 65% of attorneys thought the questions benefited jurors.  Similarly, preliminary substantive jury instructions were found to improve trials by jurors (80%), judges (85%) and attorneys (70%).  And the same was true for interim statements to the jury — jurors (80%) and judges (85%).  Finally, twelve-person juries were found not to harm efficiency, while increasing juror diversity.

Each of the four Phase Two Principles, as well as several of the additional three Phase One Principles deserve more attention and analysis.  So, over the next several weeks I will provide follow up posts discussing the findings of those Principles in greater detail.  I will start with the idea of juror questions, which I find particularly important, later this week or early next.