Happy Super Tuesday in a presidential election year.
Conventional wisdom tells us that America is more divided than ever. I think that is overstating things, but people certainly do seem dug into their belief systems these days. No amount of facts, data, or education will cause some people to change their minds about certain topics.
And this is a great thing -- IF you're involved in jury selection.
The entirety of human knowledge acquired over the last 100,000 years can be accessed in seconds using a device you always have with you. But if you believe something about carrying handguns, nuclear power, vaccines, or climate change, the chances are that no amount of data, study, or expert opinion will change your mind about that topic.
If you're a potential juror and that bias happens to be in favor of the client we support, this is fantastic news. Such a juror will (subconsciously) selectively choose evidence that favors our client using confirmation bias or motivated reasoning. This is where being polarized into one camp or another gets interesting.
When it comes to A2L's jury consulting work involving voir dire and jury selection, one of our primary goals is to discover a potential juror's bias. We also want to understand how a particular bias might affect our client. We want to, of course, deselect those jurors who would be biased against our client, and, just as importantly, not do anything to expose those jurors biased in our favor.
In this era of polarization and in an election year, there is a useful shortcut -- one's political beliefs. So, ask about them, at least indirectly. For the most part, if I know you mostly watch MSNBC or Fox News or whether you love or loathe Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity, I can make some reasonably reliable inferences about your biases. We have discussed these and other approaches to voir dire and handling bias in the free A2L Consulting articles and publications like those listed below.
- 5 Questions to Ask in Voir Dire . . . Always
- 5 Voir Dire Questions to Avoid
- Jury Research and Mock Trials During Presidential Elections
- Font Matters - A Trial Graphics Consultant's Trick to Overcome Bias
- 7 Tips to Take “Dire” out of Voir Dire
- 10 Things Every Mock Jury Ever Has Said
- A Surprising Lesson From Voir Dire
- 10 Ways to Lose Voir Dire
- 5 Ways That a Mock Trial Informs and Shapes Voir Dire Questions
- Like It or Not: Likability Counts for Credibility in the Courtroom
- 10 Things Every Mock Jury Ever Has Said
- A Jury Consultant Is Called for Jury Duty
- One Voir Dire Must Do and One Voir Dire Must Never Do
- The Voir Dire Handbook | Free Download | A2L Consulting
- Jury Selection and Voir Dire: Don't Ask, Don't Know
- 15 Things Everyone Should Know About Jury Selection
- Why Do I Need A Mock Trial If There Is No Real Voir Dire?
- Jury Questionnaire by the Numbers
- 10 Ways to Spot Your Jury Foreman
- 5 Things Every Jury Needs From You
- Jury Selection & Jury Consultants: Three Strikes, You're Out!
- 10 Signs of a Good Jury Questionnaire
- 13 Revolutionary Changes in Jury Consulting & Trial Consulting
- Is Hiring a Jury Consultant Really Worth It?
- 12 Insider Tips for Choosing a Jury Consultant
- Do I Need a Local Jury Consultant? Maybe. Here are 7 Considerations.
- I’m Right, Right? 5 Ways to Manage Juror Bias
- Jury Selection Experts . . . True or False?
- Who Are The Highest-Rated Jury Consultants?
- Webinar: 12 Things Every Mock Juror Ever Has Said
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