Congressional Digest

Excerpt

The U.S. practice of providing accused criminals the right to a trial by an impartial jury of their peers is enshrined in the Constitution.

Historically, juries have been drawn from a pool of individuals called to duty by a State-sanctioned random selection.

During this process, lawyers for both the prosecution and defense conduct a “voir dire,” or interview procedure, where they determine an individual’s desirability to serve on a jury.

If the questioning lawyer feels that a potential juror is not fit to serve because of a possible conflict of interest, bias, or other disqualifying criteria, the…