Judges, Juries and Prejudicial Publicity: Lessons from Empirical Legal Scholarship

Abstract

The criminal justice system has long held the view that judges are more capable than jurors of disregarding inadmissible prejudicial material. One consequence of this is the differential treatment of judges and jurors in respect of actual or potential exposure, via conventional or social media, to publicity which is prejudicial to a defendant. This article examines psycho-legal research findings which undermine the assumption upon which this differential treatment of judge and jury is based. It then identifies a number of questions which merit further attention in light of these findings.

Keywords: Juries, Juror Psychology, Law Reform, Prejudicial Publicity, Fair Trial, Law and Media, Law and Psychology

JEL Classification: K10, K30