Are Judges Becoming More Like Jurors?

When the decision is yours to make, it can be an agonizing one: judge or jury? Would your trial bound case benefit more from the single-person audience of a legally-trained mind or from the collective common sense of typical venue residents? Conventional wisdom supplies a familiar list of expectations that argue one way or the other:

Juries are more sympathetic and moved by emotion, while judges are logical and systematic. True?
Juries expect 'right' and 'fair' conduct, while judges just expect adherence to the law. True?
Juries expect polished rhetoric and persuasive skill, while judges want you to get straight to the facts and the law. True?

The question is whether the differences we expect are as great as the differences that actually exist. Based on nationwide surveys of federal judges and jury-eligible adults across the United States and our field research with mock judges and juries alike, it's clear there are some critical areas of similarity. More importantly, the differences may be narrowing.

Read more about the similarities and differences between judges and juries, as well as emerging trends in the attitudes of newer federal judges.