Study shows juries often get it wrong.

• Position: Law & Justice - Northwestern University's research on judicial error - Brief article

Juries across the country make decisions every day on the fate of defendants, ideally leading to prison sentences that fit the crime for the guilty and release for the innocent. Yet, a study from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., shows that juries, as a whole, are getting it wrong. In a set of 271 cases from four areas, juries gave wrong verdicts in at least one out of eight cases, according to statistician Bruce Spencer.

"Contrary to popular belief, this study strongly suggests that DNA or other after-the-fact evidence is not the only way to know how often jury verdicts are corrects," claims Spencer, professor of statistics and faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. "Based on findings from a limited sample, I am optimistic that larger, carefully designed statistical studies would have much to tell us about the accuracy of jury verdicts;'

Such studies might lead to better understanding of the prevalence of incorrect verdicts--false convictions and false acquittals. Spencer notes, "As a society, can we be satisfied if 10% of convictions are incorrect? Can we be satisfied knowing that innocent people...