Assignment: Jury Name:
In this assignment you will take on the role of a juror in a civil case. Jurors meet in the deliberation room to weigh the evidence and determine which side should win. As fellow jurors state their opinions, the student uses the evidence to respond and bring about consensus for one side or the other. Jurors deliberate until consensus is reached.
There are excellent directions at the bottom of this assignment to walk you through the simulation.
Go to the website:
We the Jury: http://www.icivics.org/games/we-the-jury
As you work through the simulation answer the following:
1. Paraphrase the instructions of the judge (What are your instructions and what do you need to think about?):
2. Explain why you think it’s important to understand how strongly individual jurors feel about one side or the other of a case.
3. Explain which pieces of evidence were the most important for understanding the case and deciding on the case?
4. Briefly explain the final verdict and how you swayed the jury in deliberation.
5. How many successful juror conversations did you have?
6. Select one of the conversations that you think had the most impact and briefly describe how it changed things with the jury outcome.
7. How much evidence did you use?
8. Select one piece of evidence that you think had the most impact and briefly describe how it changed things with the jury outcome.
From your experience with this simulation answer the following:
9. In what ways do you think a jury benefits court cases?
10. In what ways do you think juries can impede court cases?
11. If you were to go to court in the future would you want a jury trial or a bench trial (no jury)? Fully explain your reasoning.
Follow these directions, and the directions offered online to complete this assignment.
1. Choose the first case.
2. Choose the character you will be as a juror.
3. Read the closing arguments. Inside the courtroom, your character is in the jury box. The game begins as the lawyers are ready to give their closing arguments. Click through the speech bubbles to hear the closing arguments and learn about the case. When it’s over, your character’s notes fly out the window, leaving your character dependent on the other jurors’ notes in the jury room. (That’s how the evidence is presented once deliberation begins.)
Hint: Make sure to carefully read the judge’s instructions to the jury. These instructions tell you the law for the case and what’s okay to consider when making a decision.
4. Find out what the other jurors think. The object of the game is to achieve consensus among the jurors. Before you start, hover over all the jurors to find out which verdict they are leaning toward. Some jurors are undecided. But don’t take too much time — the clock is ticking on your first day of deliberation!
5. The action begins when you click on any juror to hear what that juror has to say. Two pieces of evidence are already on the table. Click on them to see if they will help you support or contradict the juror.
Next, it’s time to respond to the juror. A set of response choices will appear. Some responses support the juror’s point of view and some counter it. Support responses make the juror lean more heavily toward that view. Counter responses push the juror toward the opposite point of view. If the two main responses don’t make sense, or you just want to quit and try a different piece of evidence, say “Oh wait… nevermind” to close the response options.
When the day ends, the jury votes. The game ends when all jurors—including you—agree. During the voting process, you will weigh some of the evidence to show how it influenced your decision.
6. After the vote, the jury returns to the courtroom where the judge reads the verdict. The end screen details the player’s score.