Majority jury verdicts in England and Wales
A Vestige of White Supremacy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2357789 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nisha Waller (0000-0003-4948-4432), Naima Sakande |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 26-52 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Race & Class (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0306-3968 • E-ISSN: 1741-3125 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/03063968231212992 |
| OpenAlex | W4391134149 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
In England and Wales, the requirement for a unanimous jury verdict in criminal cases was abolished in 1967, marking a significant departure from a centuries-old legal tradition. Majority verdicts are now common practice, yet no research to date explores the origins of this sudden change to the jury system. In contrast, recent research in the US uncovered a connection between the conception of majority verdicts in Louisiana and Jim Crow era law-making, finding that majority verdicts were strategically introduced to suppress the black juror vote and facilitate quicker convictions to fuel free prison labour. The US Supreme Court later outlawed majority verdicts in a case known as Ramos v. Louisiana, amid recognition of their racist origins . Adopting the critical epistemological position guiding the US research, we consider how race and class underpinned the decision to introduce majority verdicts in England and Wales. Drawing on Home Office files and other archival materials, we find that an increase in eligible jurors from different racial and class backgrounds led to a perceived decline in the 'calibre' of jurors - reflective of wider public anxieties about Commonwealth immigration, Black Power and white disenfranchisement. We conclude that a desire to dilute the influence of 'coloured' migrants on juries contributed to the introduction of majority verdicts in England and Wales
Biology · Criminology · Genealogy · Jury · Political science · Racism · Sociology · White (mutation · White supremacy · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · History · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Jury Decision Making Processes · Law
Inside the Jury
Policing the Crisis
Black Power on the Telly
Reports Of Committees
On racial diversity and group decision making
The Effects of Ethnicity, SES, and Crime Status on Juror Decision Making
Mapping the Racial Bias of the White Male Capital Juror
British Black Power
In Defense of Unanimous Jury Verdicts
The Conservative government and the 1961 Commonwealth Immigration Act
From resistance to rebellion
Address by the Home Secretary to the Institute
Accepting the 'D' word
When Black was a political colour
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |