Skip to main content

A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hastie, R; Schkade, DA; Payne, JW
Published in: Law and Human Behavior
June 20, 1998

A study was conducted to investigate civil juries' decisions concerning defendants' liability for punitive damages in tort cases. A total of 121 six- member mock juries composed of jury-service-eligible citizens were presented summaries of previously decided cases and given a comprehensive instruction on the defendant's liability for punitive damages. Most of the mock juries decided that the consideration of punitive damages was warranted, although appellate and trial judges had concluded that they were not warranted. The tendency to find the defendant liable was partly due to jurors' failure systematically to consider the full set of legally necessary conditions for the verdicts they rendered. Individual differences in the jurors' backgrounds were not strongly related to their verdicts; income and ethnicity were weakly related to judgments. The social processes in deliberation on civil juries were similar to the dynamics of deliberation that have been observed in criminal juries.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Law and Human Behavior

DOI

ISSN

0147-7307

Publication Date

June 20, 1998

Volume

22

Issue

3

Start / End Page

287 / 314

Related Subject Headings

  • Criminology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 4402 Criminology
  • 1801 Law
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Hastie, R., Schkade, D. A., & Payne, J. W. (1998). A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages. Law and Human Behavior, 22(3), 287–314. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025754422703
Hastie, R., D. A. Schkade, and J. W. Payne. “A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages.” Law and Human Behavior 22, no. 3 (June 20, 1998): 287–314. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025754422703.
Hastie R, Schkade DA, Payne JW. A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages. Law and Human Behavior. 1998 Jun 20;22(3):287–314.
Hastie, R., et al. “A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages.” Law and Human Behavior, vol. 22, no. 3, June 1998, pp. 287–314. Scopus, doi:10.1023/A:1025754422703.
Hastie R, Schkade DA, Payne JW. A study of juror and jury judgments in civil cases: Deciding liability for punitive damages. Law and Human Behavior. 1998 Jun 20;22(3):287–314.

Published In

Law and Human Behavior

DOI

ISSN

0147-7307

Publication Date

June 20, 1998

Volume

22

Issue

3

Start / End Page

287 / 314

Related Subject Headings

  • Criminology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 4804 Law in context
  • 4402 Criminology
  • 1801 Law
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology