Essay On Murder In The Criminal Justice System

In the criminal justice system, murder is considered especially heinous (dun DUN). Murder is one of the few charges that carries capital punishment in our legal system. The United States Constitution puts the burden of coming to a verdict on a jury of twelve of your peers. A jury of your peers is not always fair because people often lack a knowledge to fully comprehend a trial, they are often selfish, and people can be indecisive. To embark upon the glorious journey of our legal system, we begin with the knowledge of the people on the jury. The people who serve on juries are just your average Joes, not the highly intelligent law graduate standing on the floor. Many people do not have a vast understanding of the sciences or legal system to understand the evidence, such as forensic evidence, being presented to them (Rose). “Well somethings been bothering me a little…” (Rose 334). When Juror 2 makes this remark, it can be concluded that jurors are not always clear on the information presented to them, even though it was hotly presented in the …show more content…
It is in our primal instincts to be social and fit in, and we do this by following a leader. If there is one juror who has their mind made up, even if it is incorrect or based on bias, it can shift the whole jury to want to follow their leadership (Rose). “He gambled for support and I gave it to him” (Rose 323). When Juror Eight stood his own and showed leadership, support flooded in around him. Now what about those people who are decisive, it may be asked, they are taking a shot in the dark. They do not really know the answer, they just convince themselves that they are correct, but deep down they too are unsure, as we saw with Juror Three (Rose). Our primal follow the leader mentality can really negatively affect a civilized