Agree/Disagree: 12 Angry Men

1. Agree/Disagree: 12 Angry Men Write the number. Then, write "A" if you agree with the statement or write "D" if you disagree with the statement. • Many of our prejudices/biases are hidden from us (we don't know what they are). • It is better to release a guilty person than to incarcerate an innocent person. • Prejudice gets in the way of the truth. You can't find the real truth if you are prejudiced. • Getting to the bottom of a complex issue is usually difficult. • Intuition should always be trusted. • When trying to figure out something, you should spend a lot of time considering all the details. • The truth is gray; it is not black and white. • Others' opinions are important; we should take time to listen to them • In general, people are more likely to obey someone who yells rather than someone who is kind and patient. • We should change our personality depending on who we interact with. • Working with a team is better than working alone. • It is easier for one person to make a difference than for many people working together. • I would trust myself to make a life or death decision for a family member. • I would trust myself to make a life or death decision for a stranger.

2. Background and Historical Information Trial by Jury

3. Background • Twelve Angry Men is a drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage, and in 1957 was made into a highly successful film. Since then it has been adapted, remade, and homaged numerous times. • The play concerns the deliberations of the jury of a homicide trial. At the beginning, they have a nearly unanimous decision of guilty, with a single dissenter of not guilty, who throughout the play sows a seed of reasonable doubt. It was first made as a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series, and was aired as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954. The drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title.

4. Why juries? • Why do you think the Framers of the Constitution thought trial by jury was essential to preserving freedom?

6. The First Juries • The English were among the first to adopt the institution of trial by an impartial jury of one's peers, and English colonists in America recognized this right, along with due process of law and representative government, as central to their definition of republican liberty.

7. American Revolution • In the period leading up to the American Revolution, patriots protested against the provision in the Sugar Act (1764) that denied individuals charged with violating the trade laws the right to trial by a local jury. Smugglers were, instead, transported to England for trial by the vice admiralty courts; judges of these courts decided the guilt or innocence of the accused and were paid a portion of the fines imposed on those found guilty. Similarly, the Stamp Act (1765) assigned judges the responsibility of deciding cases without the benefit of jury. Disregard by the British government for the rights of colonists impelled the First Continental Congress to cite violations of the right to a fair trial among the Resolves published in 1774.

8. Constitution • At the federal level, the Framers of the Constitution asserted the right to trial by jury "of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment," adding that "such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed…." [Article III, Section 2, Paragraph 3].

9. Bill of Rights • The Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791, provides that "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." [Amendment VI]

10. The Bill of Rights (2) • In 1968, the Supreme Court held in the case of in Duncan v. Louisiana that, under Amendment XIV, rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States apply equally to the states, thus ensuring the fundamental right to trial by jury in state as well as federal criminal prosecutions

11. Role of Jury • As far back as the Revolutionary Era, jurors had been expected not only to determine the facts of a case but also to interpret the meaning of law itself.

12. Discrimination • Throughout much of the 20th century, justices addressed the question of what it means to be tried by a jury of one's peers. With a few notable exceptions, African-Americans and women had been systematically excluded from jury duty since the founding of the republic, denying individuals from those groups the constitutional right to be tried and judged by individuals of the same race or gender.

13. Jury Requirements • The requirements for a jury are fairly universal. The number of jurors must be a specified size (often but not always 12), and since there is always the possibility of jurors not completing the trial for health or other reasons, often some alternate jurors are nominated, who will also follow the trial (but do not take part in deciding the verdict), as a precaution in case a new juror is needed part way through the trial.

14. Jury Obligations • Serving on a jury is normally compulsory if a citizen is chosen (exceptions and exclusions vary between jurisdictions). Since a jury is intended to be an impartial panel capable of reaching a verdict, there are often procedures and requirements, for instance: fluent understanding of the language, or the ability to test jurors or otherwise exclude jurors who might be perceived as less than neutral or more partial to hear one side or the other.

15. Role of Jury • In common law countries such as Great Britain and the United States, the role of the jury is the "finder of fact", while the Judge has the sole responsibility of interpreting the appropriate law and instructing the jury accordingly. Occasionally, a jury may find the defendant "not guilty" even though he violated the law if the jury thinks that the law is invalid or unjust. This is commonly referred to as jury nullification.

16. Rulings Related to Juries • Additional rulings relating to the right to be tried by a jury have affirmed the traditional standard of requiring that proof of guilt be established "beyond a reasonable doubt," approved the use of six-person juries in state criminal trials, and allowed juries to convict criminals in non-capital cases without a unanimous vote.

17. Reasonable Doubt • Reasonable doubt is defined as follows: • It is not mere possible doubt, because everything relating to human affairs is open to some possible or imaginary doubt. It is that state of the case which, after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the mind of the jurors in that condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge.

18. Purpose of Trial by Jury • The purpose of trial by jury, as the Supreme Court itself has noted, is to prevent "oppression by the government." To perform that role, jurors must act independently and conscientiously, and they must be prepared to "just say no" if they believe that a conviction would be unjust.

19. Background • Twelve Angry Men is a drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage, and in 1957 was made into a highly successful film. Since then it has been adapted, remade, and homaged numerous times. • The play concerns the deliberations of the jury of a homicide trial. At the beginning, they have a nearly unanimous decision of guilty, with a single dissenter of not guilty, who throughout the play sows a seed of reasonable doubt. It was first made as a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series, and was aired as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954. The drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title.