We’ve posted before about implicit bias, including the Department of Justice’s training on implicit bias, the ABA’s video and related work on the subject and the role that implicit bias plays in Batson challenges. In a fascinating new development, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (which includes Seattle) has produced a video for jurors to watch. As noted by the Marshall Project in this article discussing the initiative (originally posted here), the video is being shown to potential jurors as they wait to be called for service. The court has also posted a set of pattern jury instructions that can be used at a judge’s discretion during a trial. Will other federal courts follow suit? And will there be some form of rigorous evaluation to assess the effectiveness of this innovative approach? Developments to follow . . .
James G. Milles
Molly J. W. Wilson
Tigran Eldred
Behavioral Legal Ethics 