UD prof in Argentina as expert on juries

Valerie Hans

2:22 p.m., Aug. 31, 2004--This week Valerie Hans, University of Delaware professor of sociology and criminal justice, will appear before several judges in Argentina. They will be listening to her lecture: “Jury 101.”

An expert on jury selection, jury decision-making, jury reform, and juries and the death penalty, Hans was invited to participate in an administration of justice project by the Argentine Ministry of Justice, the National Council of Magistrates and Fundacion Libre, a nongovernmental organization. The trip is funded by a U.S. Speaker and Specialist grant from the Office of International Information Programs in the U.S. Department of State.

“I’m thrilled!” Hans said. “It’s very exciting. It’s very challenging, too. It’s a real privilege.”

Hans will discuss “Trial by Jury in the U.S.” with judicial policy makers, academics, judges, lawyers, journalists, professors and representatives from think tanks and nongovernmental organizations. The presentations will include question-and-answer sessions and roundtable discussions.

Although the Argentine constitution has guaranteed trial by jury for more than 150 years, the practice has never been implemented. The Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Committee of the Argentine Senate recently launched a bill to introduce jury trials to the Argentine judicial system.

Hans said discussions with judges and magistrates will be “critical because the [Argentine] proposal will be to have juries instead of judges determine serious cases, including public corruption."

The U.S. program is designed to support that effort by increasing the degree of knowledge about the process in the U.S. and to expose Argentine legal professionals and the public to the jury system.

"Apparently, there was a kidnapping in 1996 that really started people thinking that they needed a jury system. People felt that justice wasn't done,” Hans said.

"A lot of recent developments in jury systems in the U.S. have come out of high-profile cases. In the John Hinckley case, the fact that he was found not guilty by reason of insanity led to widespread change in the insanity defense. It is not surprising to see that a very high-profile case can mobilize people to think about changing the system," Hans said.

Hans, who published Business on Trial and coauthored Judging the Jury with Neil Vidma, said the jury system is a dynamic reflection of society.

“Any social issue or problem that you can talk about in society usually will emerge in the jury,” Hans said. “It’s a continuously fascinating institution.”

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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