American Juries ─ The Verdict

Warning that the American jury system is under attack, Vidmar (law, Duke U.) and Hans (law, Cornell U.) review the empirical research on juries over the past fifty years in order to provide readers both with an understanding of the role of the jury system in American democracy and with a means to evaluate the (often anecdotal) arguments loosed by critics of the jury system. They offer a historical overview of the evolution of the jury system and provide chapters examining such issues as juror bias and jury selection, the problem of pretrial publicity, jurors' comprehension of evidence and law, juries and scientific experts, deciding insanity, jury nullification, juries and capital punishment, civil liability, compensatory and punitive damages awards, and medical malpractice decisions. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Neil Vidmar, PhD, (Durham, NC), is both the Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law and a professor of psychology at Duke University. He has published over 100 research articles and is the author, coauthor, or editor of four books including Hans and Vidmar’s widely acclaimed Judging the Jury, Medical Malpractice and the American Jury, and World Jury Systems.

Valerie P. Hans, PhD (Ithaca, NY), is Professor of Law at Cornell University. She has published more than ninety research papers and articles and is the author, coauthor or editor of five books including Business on Trial; Judging the Jury and The Jury System. She also serves on the editorial boards of major professional journals in the field of law and social science.