Show The Psychology 1 of the Jury y Room CHARLES FREDERIC E s D D I I Few experiences possess the power to stir sUr a thoughtful mind more profoundly than sitting through a protracted term of service on the jury Of a criminal court Having recently per performed Conned this dut duty I propose to discuss the psycho 08 ogy of the jury room a point of view What then are the Influences that to move the various minds of th these se twelve men taken ot at random from human society to a unanimous agree agreement ment or a fatal disagreement with re regard i iga ga gard to the evidence for or against a prisoner charged with crime Tho most Important Is that of temp ament The first swift glance one casts around af affords lords fords a startling revelation of the va of natural nahual predispositions The bull neck and heavy jowl of one the tho i sallow comple complexion and hollow client chest of another r thle the sunken orbs of the tho third I the tho e eye e of n a fourth the 10 low brow and retreating chin or of the fifth the road white fore forehead forehead head and nose or of th the sixth the thick lips Bps of tIle flie seventh the domelike skull of the eighth 0 the squat flat head bead of the ninth the flab i bing generous ears of the tenth he heager eager ager and open manner of the I the secretive and sullen demeanor of the twel twelfth are that these men came Into the world ab absolutely and aud unalterably tent from each In disposition bias sI spirit At the s second cond glan glance e he Perceives that their experiences have differed is as widely as their temperaments Three or four have made failures In life as ne he knows by theIr seedy clothing and dirty finger Four or five look as If they had at least kept their head above aboe water ne or two are well enough dressed to produce the sion of having been fairly All look as jf if they had been held to 0 their tasks in an environment unfavorable able to moral training Some have Va Vagrant grant eyes others appear absorbed and one or two seem cem egotist teal leal and pugnacious lous Life LICe has borne hard on them all but not with th the ef feet ot of making them re resemble each II other othor like bales or pigs of iron The They differ like the garg gargOyles on a ca cathedral Cathedral thedral Ilko the fishes in an ocean oceano o The B I Wilt Will th theY have ahl ben been impressed ed nUke alike b by the of tl tle witnesses I and the he ottlie rth lawyers We shan shall seer seel The first ballot is cast without din aud Is trustworthy I revelatiOn t f the etc Identical Ira upon varying r receptive or org grins g ns To mind the rill all pointed one WaY alid you have no I shadow or of doubt that the accused Js is I guItY Wh What t 1 your astonishment nt then to I discover that six sI or of these men are for 1 and six for conviction discoverY shakes your faith In you I own physical Intellectual pro processes esIes and moral judgments But this ia 1 only the beginning or of your amaze for tor In the whIch lot fol i ilowe lows lowe you are confronted with L U thought currents that seem to have no nc nomore more logical order than the movement doUd Evidences that er ere con convincing to your oWn OWl mind had absolute absolutely ly I no wel weight ht with others that thai d momentous to them I trivial to you tp to which you yo I cave attention entirely es escaped esc c their notice But it is in the moral re realm lm rathe than the t tt t the tempera duce the most widely varying results Judgments that yu had regarded as indisputable are re laughingly set aside ns as exploded fancies Convictions that you had tc be universal e con cont contemptuously t repudiated d Sentiments that you had believed to be matters ot 01 shame ar are unblushingly proclaimed Opinions of the grossest most sensual I and most anarchic nature are expressed with a brutal frankness s For example all of these men but two or three silent ones unblushingly af affirm rm the right of the male animal to gratify graUf his passions at will ill half of them think that the rich should be exploited for the poor one of them stubbornly affirms that a verdict should be given against a cor corporation simply on the ground that it was too While under the first shock of these thes revelations you will experience a pain painful painful ful doubt as to the possibility ity of the discovery of truth b by an so imperfect as the human mind You had thought of It as reliable like Uke a telescope or a You had supposed that all minds would reflect Identical as accurately as an mirrors do doo o objects th they differ so 80 much whose hose is right Is yours or theirs these or thos those It Is enough to make malce a skeptic out of you Not one of these jurymen distrusted his own mind but each the mind of the other him being the case caso the m mystery of th their lr ever arriving at an agreement confronts you ou How will this be ac accomplished What arguments and mo motives motives tives m must st appealed be to You ha have been surprised d at the differ differences In the of these men when acting freely under the same in influences but to be amazed d confounded ed two other i iun and by un ha The ease case with which th the conclusions of some be shaken by Sh r nonsense and the impossibility of al altering those of the others by the most Indisputable reasoning The DIscussion I IAtter After Atter the result or of the first ballot IS announced a tree free discussion begins Everybody talks at once Each shouts his ideas into the air It seems as if a dictionary had a 0 pack of kers of this Ino inco incoherent herent and debate Is followed b by another vote vot Which now to three for acquittal What this sudden Sud den Nobody knoWs More t lk t which Js Is rather like Uke the gabble of oC fowls than human con ard and the vote swin babic alc to seven soven against five fp conviction fl flAnd And now now the tempers of men begin to tobe tobe be aroused These differences anger them rh rhey y talk themselves red in j the face swear they will wUl never change U views that they will wUl stay there all a week a month That those thos who differ from them are fools or knaveS After a while n a lull occurs Th The loud est eat talkers have grown hoarse A quiet man tran whose voice h has S not bEen heard asks for n a momentary privilege of the floor In lila ealm mind th vague vague ideas h he e lie He ut utters tera them In simple sentence or two and his auditors look stunned Why had th they y not thought of this before They are abOut to stampede and vote on side when that cl elear r precipitates the sediment In the mind of an opponent who in a fiery and speech h et t forth the opposite site view iI ao clr a that the be bewildered tamn WAS ready to del der ck to his ha pOInt of vi The Verdict An lUr two t th J er hT by byI I I 0 A new poll pon Is taken and the they agree has this mIracle rhey are hungry That is all Rogues hang bang said Pope that ju n may ma dine rIlls of th the psycho psychology of the jury room does not tend o confirm ones faith in the jury system The a average rage man is not a good reasoner rca rea He does not understand the value alue of C nor nor know enough about law lawHe lawHe He is governed b by his passions an and i prejudices rather than his judgments In most cases agreements ire reached by compromises In which those who surrender their vote have not al altered altered their I had rather put my destinies in the hands bands or o judges trained d to logical pro processes processes than into th thise se or of a mob of un uneducated uneducated educated 1 pers e rs If H J I had to have a jur jury I should want It composed of men of disciplined minds no matter whether they had formed prejudgments of m my case or not Such minds will be governed by fact and reason the others will be con troll d by and Sa lon as the jury s system stands it itIs Itis Is n a crime against society for the m men ll best able abla to judge evidence to refuse to serve Berve the system In this import Important ant and lute Inte InterIor |