ABSTRACT

America’s founding fathers believed jury trials to be a critical component of an orderly democracy. Yet, fewer than 5% of America’s cases are decided by juries. We present an interdisciplinary review of empirical, legal, and historical literatures to highlight the significance of the disappearing trial. Without juries, direct participation in the justice system is severely limited, at a time when trust in governmental institutions is plummeting and highly publicized examples of systematic injustices are surging. Further, continued research on jury trials is critical for its practical implications and to address numerous fundamental psychological processes. The diminishment of the jury trial has been accompanied by a substantial increase in guilty pleas. The vast majority resulting from plea bargaining: a process that lacks the due process protections and transparency of trials. Furthermore, the increasing reliance on guilty pleas provides prosecutors with an immense amount of sentencing power—power once reserved for juries and judges. This dominant system of pleas poses a number of potential issues that are underscored throughout this paper. Ultimately, continued research on both adjudicative processes within the social sciences is critical to assuage the justice system to reverse its current trend toward the complete marginalization of the jury system.

摘要

美国的开国元勋认为陪审团审判是有序民主的重要组成部分。然而，只有不到 5% 的美国案件由陪审团裁决。我们对实证、法律和历史文献进行了跨学科回顾，以强调消失审判的重要性。没有陪审团，对司法系统的直接参与受到严重限制，而此时人们对政府机构的信任度正在直线下降，而广为人知的系统性不公正事例正在激增。此外，对陪审团审判的持续研究对其实际意义和解决众多基本心理过程至关重要。陪审团审判的减少伴随着认罪的大幅增加。绝大多数来自辩诉交易：一个缺乏正当程序保护和审判透明度的过程。此外，越来越多地依赖认罪为检察官提供了巨大的量刑权力——这一权力曾经是为陪审团和法官保留的。这种占主导地位的认罪制度提出了许多潜在的问题，这些问题在本文中得到了强调。最终，在社会科学中继续研究这两种审判过程对于安抚司法系统以扭转目前陪审团制度完全边缘化的趋势至关重要。这种占主导地位的认罪制度提出了许多潜在的问题，这些问题在本文中得到了强调。最终，在社会科学中继续研究这两种审判过程对于安抚司法系统以扭转目前陪审团制度完全边缘化的趋势至关重要。这种占主导地位的认罪制度提出了许多潜在的问题，这些问题在本文中得到了强调。最终，在社会科学中继续研究这两种审判过程对于安抚司法系统以扭转目前陪审团制度完全边缘化的趋势至关重要。