I9I4.] PSYCHOLOGY OF JURORS AND JURIES. 311 



ceptions, the hectoring and heckHng of witnesses, the muteness of 

 the jury itself, and finally the mistrust of its honor in locking it up 

 to reach an agreement — not always real but formal — all these in- 

 cite the sensitive and the honorable mind especially to secret rebel- 

 lion against the system. This state of mind cannot but endanger 

 verdicts. 



There are other influences of entirely conscious and purposive 

 kind which affect verdicts too. Thus, in the jury's deliberations 

 under lock and key a juryman will openly confess that he will not 

 vote to acquit a negro prisoner because he is a negro; or he will 

 stand by a chauffer in a suit for damages because he himself drives 

 an automobile; or he is moved by fear of the judge to decide against 

 what he has ordered or what he believes to be the judge's opinion; 

 or he is politically afraid; or he dislikes to be the target of ten or 

 eleven others ; or he wants to go home, to take the next and last 

 train, perhaps, to avoid another night at a hotel ; or he cannot under- 

 stand the case — its technical terms, its arithmetic, its alternatives, 

 its fine-spun distinctions, some of which are purely technical and 

 have no direct bearing on justice. 



But while some of these influences arise directly out of the 

 system and are corrigible they are mostly more obvious and overt 

 than the subconscious causes of mental sway, arising immediately 

 out of juridical prescription and attitude. Some of these have 

 already been noted. Timidity, restraint, sense of personal loss, per- 

 sonal discomfort, offensive environment and treatment, worry over 

 private troubles caused in part by absence from home or business 

 — all of these affect the balances of a sensitive mind and are in a 

 large measure corrigible. The implication that as a juror one can- 

 not be trusted to come and go while the judge and the witnesses and 

 attorneys are free hurts a sensitive mind and excites a rebellious 

 spirit. 



In fact, the wearisome reiterations in the examination and cross- 

 examination of witnesses, the time consumed in legal fencing, the 

 objecting and excepting, sometimes give the juror a sense of being 

 unfairly exploited for the gain of attorneys rather than for the 

 settlement of real difficulties. Juries are jealous of their time and 

 personal freedom ; so surplus verbiage and legal loquacity irritate to 



