Doctoral Dissertation Research: (De)Legitimizing the Jury? An Empirical Analysis of Felon Jury Exclusion

49个州、联邦政府和哥伦比亚特区限制被定罪的重刑犯担任陪审员的机会。在这些司法管辖区中，有29个司法管辖区永久禁止被判有罪的重刑犯担任陪审员，将大约1300万公民从国家陪审团池中剔除。为了证明这些法定排除是合理的，政策制定者和法院指出，有必要保护陪审团程序不受那些可能损害其完整性的人的影响。然而，到目前为止，还没有研究研究被判有罪的重刑犯如何影响审判过程，或者他们被纳入这一过程会产生什么影响。使用混合方法，这个项目通过1)检查重刑犯陪审员如何塑造陪审团制度(在现场和实验室)，以及2)分析陪审团服务对被定罪的重刑犯对法律的认知以及他们随后重新进入法律的影响，来探索这些相互关联的主题。被定罪的重刑犯重新融入社会并参与民主进程往往引发两极分化的辩论。该项目将扩大这一辩论并为其提供信息，填补现有关于判决程序和前罪犯重新融入社会的经验研究的空白。它还将扩大对法律遵从性作为法律所感知的合法性和公平性的作用的研究。通过这些方式，这个项目谈到了政策、实践和理论，因为它们与陪审团程序、重新进入和参与式民主的原则有关。

Forty-nine states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia restrict a convicted felon's opportunity to serve as a juror. Of those jurisdictions, twenty-nine ban convicted felons from jury service permanently, eliminating approximately thirteen million citizens from the national jury pool. Justifying these statutory exclusions, policymakers and courts cite a need to protect the jury process from those who might compromise its integrity. Yet, to date, no study has examined how convicted felons impact the adjudicative process or are impacted by their inclusion in that process. Using a mixed methods approach, this project explores these interrelated themes by 1) examining how felon jurors shape jury systems (in the field and in the laboratory), and 2) analyzing the influence of jury service on convicted felons' perceptions of the law and, in turn, their subsequent reentry. The reintegration of convicted felons and their participation in democratic processes often inspires polarized debate. This project will expand and inform that debate, filling voids in existing empirical research on the adjudicative process and the reintegration of former offenders. It will also extend research on legal compliance as a function of the perceived legitimacy and fairness of the law. In these ways, this project speaks to policy, practice, and theory as they relate to the jury process, reentry, and the tenets of participatory democracy.