'Implicit Bias and Juror Decision-making' explored

The National Center for State Courts will present the webinar on "Implicit Bias and Juror Decision-making" on Friday, June 17, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. via Zoom. Since 1789, the U.S. Constitution has guaranteed the right to a trial by an impartial jury. Three hundred and thirty-one years after ratification, the United States continues to wrestle with what impartial means in an increasingly diverse nation. Answering this question is crucial to maintaining and increasing confidence in tha nation's courts. Historically it was assumed that judges and lawyers were capable of identifying and removing biased jurors during voir dire and that the remaining jurors were thus presumed to be impartial. Over the past several decades, the nation has learned about implicit bias and how it affects decision-making by all participants in criminal trials, including judges and jurors. Other webinars in this series have considered the value of a diverse jury, securing diverse jury pools, and selecting a jury (voir dire and peremptory challenges). The webinar's panel will take part in a conversation exploring implicit bias: what it is, and points judges should think about in order to mitigate contemporary notions of implicit bias in American jury trials and increase public confidence. The panelists include: - Paula Hannaford-Agor, director of the Center for Jury Studies, National Center for State Courts - Prof. Sarah Redfield, professor of law emerita, University of New Hampshire School of Law - Prof. Sonia Gipson Rankin, associate professor of law, University of New Mexico Law - Moderator: Judge Melvin Oden-Orr, Circuit Court, Multnomah County, Oregon To register for the program, visit www.ncsc.org and click on "webinars." Published: Tue, Jun 14, 2022