Is justice always fair? An examination of race-based decision-making in jury trials

The American jury system has been scrutinized on the basis of the potential and capability of its members to decide cases in manners consistent with their personal perceptions and beliefs. Jurors are citizens of the community who play an important role in the justice system in that they are expected to effectively and impartially withhold judgments yet be a peer of the defendant. The purpose of this study is to determine how perceptions of fairness along the lines of race are influential in jury decision-making and beliefs regarding the justice system as a whole. The results indicate that the jurors' notion of fair outcomes in trials relates to how they perceive of race and equality. However, the relationship between race and jury decision-making is complex and deserves further study.