Describe the jury selection process. Why is this process important?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The first step in the jury selection process involves a jurisdiction establishing a master list, or “jury
wheel,” of all potential jurors within its jurisdictional boundaries who can be chosen at random to report
for jury duty as needed. The group of individuals who report for jury duty at a given time is known as the
venire, or jury pool. Next, members of the venire wait in the jury assembly room until the jury
commissioner’s staff is given notice that a court is ready to select a jury. At this point, a set number of
members of the venire are selected at random to report to the given courtroom. This group of individuals
is referred to as the jury panel. Once prospective jurors report to a courtroom, they participate in what is
known as voir dire. The voir dire involves prospective jurors being questioned under oath by the attorneys
and the judge to help determine their appropriateness to sit as a juror for a specific trial. The questioning
during voir dire can be conducted by the attorneys, the judge, or both. If an attorney believes a potential
juror is biased and cannot be fair and impartial, the attorney make a challenge for cause. Attorneys for
both sides have an unlimited number of challenges for cause. After challenges for cause have been
resolved and voir dire has been completed, the attorneys are given the opportunity to have a certain
number of potential jurors removed from the panel without having to state a reason. This act is known as
a peremptory challenge. The number of peremptory are limited. A critical component of any court system
that uses juries to determine guilt is how individuals are selected to be jurors. The makeup of a jury has
the potential to affect the outcome of an individual trial, and the representativeness of the people asked to
participate in the jury system as jurors also has an impact on the perceived fairness and legitimacy of the
process. In addition, to satisfy the Sixth Amendment, courts and states must take steps to ensure that their
jury selection system provides the defendant with a trial before an impartial jury.