The Role of Religion in the Production of Attitudes toward the Jury.

The jury is the hallmark of US democracy but is an institution that heavily depends upon public support and participation to function effectively. Although secular in design and purpose, jury participation touches upon and challenges many aspects of potential jurors lives, including their core religious tenets (e.g., even simple cases may raise themes of responsibility, duty, and forgiveness). Yet the extent to which religious views and practices predict jury attitudes and participation has not yet been adequately assessed. This paper will examine the intersection of religious life, jury participation, and attitudes towards juries and jury service. We first ask how religious factors affect who responds to a jury summons and whether religious people are more likely than others to be selected onto juries. Second, we explore whether religious factors predict willingness to serve on a jury. Third, the paper will examine whether religious factors are important for favoring a judge or a jury in deciding different types of hypothetical scenarios. Data for the paper come from the recently collected Survey of Texas Adults (SoTA). The SoTA is a telephone survey of randomly selected sample of approximately 1,500 adults in the state of Texas. Preliminary results indicate that respondents who are more actively religious are more likely to serve in juries. However, respondents with more authoritarian religious outlooks also tend to prefer judges to juries to decide cases. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]