Article

Deductive Modeling to Determine an Optimum Jury Size and Fraction Required to Convict

Authors: Stuart S. Nagel (University of Illinois) , Marian Neef (University of Illinois)

Abstract

In 1970, the United States Supreme Court held in Williams v. Florida that due process is not violated if a state chooses to conduct criminal cases with six-person juries rather than twelve-person juries. Two years later, in Apodaca v. Oregon, the Court held that due process is not violated if a state chooses to have juries decide criminal cases by a majority of ten out of twelve jurors. Those cases were followed by a substantial literature, but there is still no systematic analysis of the fundamental issue raised by Williams and Apodaca: What is the relation between jury size, or a requirement of unanimity, and conviction of the guilty and acquittal of the innocent?

Keywords: Juries, Statistics

How to Cite: Nagel, S. & Neef, M. (1975) “Deductive Modeling to Determine an Optimum Jury Size and Fraction Required to Convict”, Washington University Law Review. 1975(4).