| Abstract: |
This paper uses data from 700 felony trials in Sarasota and Lake Counties in
Florida from 2000-2010 to examine the role of age in jury selection and trial
outcomes. The results imply that prosecutors are more likely to use their
peremptory challenges to exclude younger members of the jury pool, while
defense attorneys exclude older potential jurors. To examine the causal impact
of age on trial outcomes, the paper employs a research design that isolates
the effect of the random variation in the age composition of the pool of
eligible jurors called for jury duty. Consistent with the jury selection
patterns, the empirical evidence implies that older jurors are significantly
more likely to convict. Results are robust to the inclusion of broad set of
controls including county, time, and judge fixed effects. These findings imply
that many cases are decided differently for reasons that are completely
independent of the true nature of the evidence in the case – i.e., that there
is substantial randomness in the application of criminal justice. |