CCM Jury Management & Court Operations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'peremptory challenge' in jury selection?
- A challenge to the judge's authority
- An attorney's right to dismiss a juror without stating a reason, subject to constitutional limits (Correct answer)
- A juror's right to refuse service
- A motion to dismiss the entire jury panel
Correct answer: An attorney's right to dismiss a juror without stating a reason, subject to constitutional limits
Peremptory challenges allow attorneys to excuse a limited number of jurors without giving a reason, though they cannot be used to discriminate by race or gender.
Question 2: Under the Supreme Court's ruling in Batson v. Kentucky, what restriction applies to peremptory challenges?
- They may not be used in civil cases
- They cannot be used to exclude jurors solely based on race (Correct answer)
- They are limited to three per side
- They must be approved by the judge in advance
Correct answer: They cannot be used to exclude jurors solely based on race
Batson v. Kentucky established that using peremptory challenges to exclude jurors based on race violates the Equal Protection Clause.
Question 3: What is 'sequestration' of a jury?
- Dismissing a juror for misconduct
- Isolating jurors from outside contact and media during a trial to prevent outside influence (Correct answer)
- Selecting alternates for the jury
- Removing a case from the trial docket
Correct answer: Isolating jurors from outside contact and media during a trial to prevent outside influence
Sequestration keeps jurors isolated from news coverage and outside communications to ensure verdict integrity in high-profile cases.
Question 4: What is an 'alternate juror' and why are they selected?
- A juror from another county brought in for a change of venue
- An additional juror seated to replace a regular juror who becomes unable to serve during trial (Correct answer)
- A juror who votes last in deliberations
- A juror assigned only to civil cases
Correct answer: An additional juror seated to replace a regular juror who becomes unable to serve during trial
Alternate jurors hear the full trial and are ready to substitute for any regular juror who cannot continue, preventing mistrial.
Question 5: What is the primary measure used to evaluate the effectiveness of a jury summons program?
- The number of jurors who enjoy their service
- The yield rate — the percentage of summoned jurors who appear and are qualified for service (Correct answer)
- The total cost of juror parking
- The speed of verdict delivery
Correct answer: The yield rate — the percentage of summoned jurors who appear and are qualified for service
Yield rate reflects how efficiently the summons process converts summons sent into available, qualified jurors ready for selection.
Question 6: Which best practice improves juror satisfaction and public trust in the jury system?
- Reducing juror pay to minimum wage
- Providing clear orientation, timely communication, comfortable waiting areas, and realistic scheduling (Correct answer)
- Sequestering all juries regardless of case type
- Eliminating the voir dire process
Correct answer: Providing clear orientation, timely communication, comfortable waiting areas, and realistic scheduling
Juror satisfaction programs that emphasize respect for jurors' time and comfort improve compliance and public confidence in the courts.
CCM Jury Management & Court Operations 2
What is a 'peremptory challenge' in jury selection?