May 28, Anna Offit, associate professor at Dedman School of Law, SMU Dallas, for a piece acknowledging the necessity of videoconferencing technology during a pandemic for jury trials, but voicing concerns about the level of justice that might be lost in the process. Published in Inside Sources and affiliates: https://bit.ly/3cipBgF
It is essential that courts develop plans to adapt jury trials to our current public health crisis.
Thousands of defendants are currently in limbo around the country awaiting trial as COVID-19 has kept jurors out of court. The use of video technology to facilitate remote jury trials, however, must be implemented with caution.
At a time when virtual court proceedings are becoming the norm in North Texas, Collin County became the first in the United States to experiment with virtual jury trials last week. The judge who oversaw the county’s first non-binding summary jury trial commented in an interview that its success “showed us jurors can appear remotely.”
A move to virtual jury trials in the criminal context, however, carries risks that cannot be overlooked. . .
Continue reading “Technology Can’t Replace In-Person Jury Trials, but It May Help During a Pandemic”