Assignment:
If your last name begins with the letters A through M: Prior to beginning work on this video presentation, read Presumed Fair? Voir Dire on the Fundamentals of our Criminal Justice System and Trial Myths and Misconceptions. Additionally, watch The Art of Voir Dire.
1. Explain the legal term voir dire, its origins, and its purposes.
2. Detail the process of voir dire, and distinguish between preemptory and discretionary strikes of potential jury members.
3. Provide an opinion of whether or not the process of voir dire serves its stated ends.
4. Create improvements in the current system of voir dire to ensure fair and impartial jurors for criminal trials.
5. Explain whether or not a defendant is entitled to a "fair" or a perfect jury.
6. Distinguish between preemptory strikes of jurors vs. strikes for cause of potential jurors.
Readings:
1. Presumed Fair? Voir Dire on the Fundamentals of our Criminal Justice System
By Vida B. Johnson
2. Trial Myths and Misconceptions
By Howard Varinsky and Paulette Taylor