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Symposium in Washington, D.C., will examine ways to prevent bias in jury decisions

WHAT: Judging the Book by More Than Its Cover: A Symposium on Juries, Implicit Bias, and the Justice System’s Response

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, 2020

WHERE: Eaton Hotel (Beverly Snow Room), 1201 K St NW, Washington, DC

Juries exist to weigh evidence and render just decisions. But jurors are only human, and research confirms that all people possess biases that they don’t even know they have. What can and should our legal system do to protect jury verdicts from the influence of unconscious or implicit bias?

Participants in this day-long symposium will learn from judges, trial lawyers, and social scientists who are experts on how to spot and mitigate juror biases, and will have the opportunity to develop recommendations for justice system improvement.

Speakers will include:

  • Dr. Robbin Chapman, associate dean of diversity, inclusion and belonging at Harvard Kennedy School
  • Dr. Jeff Rachlinksi, Henry Allen Mark professor of law, Cornell Law School
  • Dr. Mike Morrison, assistant professor, King’s University College; London, ON
  • Hon. Bernice Donald, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • Hon. Mark Bennett, director of the Institute for Justice Reform & Innovation, Drake University Law School
  • Sarah Redfield, professor emerita, Franklin Pierce School of Law
  • Hon. Sherri Collins, 15th Judicial Circuit Court, Florida

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Created more than a half-century ago at the recommendation of a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, The National Judicial College remains the only educational institution in the United States that teaches courtroom skills to judges of all types from all over the country, Indian Country and abroad. The categories of judges served by this nonprofit and nonpartisan institution, based in Reno, Nevada, since 1964, decide more than 95 percent of the cases in the United States.

NJC News