文摘
It is undeniable the importance that the juror has to the legal system. The jury system is comprised of individuals who are given the responsibility of determining fault and consequences in several different types of legal trials. In the criminal trial,and in particular the capital trial,the juror has the ultimate responsibility of sifting through fact and fiction to come to a determination on an individual's life. It is with this heavy task in mind that researchers have attempted to make the process as fair as possible for the individual on trial. Jurors cannot help but to bring biases into the courtroom,from their own upbringing,information that have gleaned prior to the start of the trial,and their own attitudes and beliefs. Despite instructions to only utilize the information heard in court,Jurors will use these prior biases to make decisions. Therefore,research is needed to characterize the juror attitudes and beliefs that can impact a trial and the trends that follow. This research contends that moral disengagement is associated with juror and death penalty attitudes and therefore the capital trial.