NACDL

There is diversity of opinion on whether jurors who answer questionnaires in high profile or sensitive cases should remain anonymous or reveal their identities. Indeed, the authors of this article, experienced with both approaches, recognize there is no hard and fast rule about what is right for every case, and each favors different approaches.

Linda Moreno favors a protocol that provides for the questionnaire to be mailed to prospective jurors, completed at home, and returned by mail to the court. She believes that anonymity for jurors filling out a questionnaire will enable them to feel safe enough to be truly and brutally candid and express their real feelings. Moreno makes the added point that if the juror, despite the court’s instructions, gets “help” filling out the questionnaire, it provides a wider view of the juror’s circle of intimates who often shape the juror’s attitudes.

Moreno was defense counsel in the trial of Dr. al-Arian. A Palestinian and tenured professor of computer