Skip to the beginning of the images gallery

God-Thinking: Every Juror's Moral Brain, Religious Beliefs, and The Effects on a Trial Verdict

Name: God-Thinking: Every Juror's Moral Brain, Religious Beliefs, and The Effects on a Trial Verdict
Brand: LexisNexis

Author: SunWolf (Author)

This book invites trial practitioners, attorneys, judges, and consultants to engage in new thinking about how jurors' moral compasses affect trial outcomes.

Publisher: LexisNexis

Grouped product items
Product Format	Details	Qty
Print Book: Softbound, 244 pgs. $ 59.00	In Stock ISBN: 9780769883229
Please enter a quantity greater than 0.
eBook: epub $ 59.00	In Stock ISBN: 9780769883236
Please enter a quantity greater than 0.

Enquiry Icon International Order Inquiry

Product Description

View a sample of this title using the ReadNow feature

A wide variety of moral compasses is sitting in every jury box! Jurors bring their religions and spiritual beliefs with them to court and rely upon personal moral compasses during deliberations. Every trial, civil or criminal, can become a battle of good and evil in the minds of the jurors, yet trial advocacy books have ignored this dynamic. This book invites trial practitioners, attorneys, judges, and consultants to engage in new thinking about how jurors' moral compasses affect trial outcomes.

Dr. SunWolf was a long-time trial and appellate attorney, now an award-winning social scientist and university professor, who takes the reader into the latest research about the psychology of good and evil and our believing brain--then points to specific ways every juror's religious thinking impacts a verdict, including:

• The Neuroscience of Fair Play
• The Social Psychology of Good and Evil
• The God Gene and the Biology of Belief
• The Science of Moral Dilemmas
• Questionnaire Items that Uncover a Juror's Moral Compass
• Voir Dire Questions and Conversations about the Jury Pool's Religious Thinking
• Trial Tools and Motions that Take a Juror's God-Thinking Into Account
• Pre-Trial Investigations that Reveal a Community's Religious Landscape

As trial practitioners, our job must deal with the variety of moral belief systems jurors are bringing to our courtrooms, in a manner that moves us towards fairer trials and more just verdicts.

eBooks, CDs, downloadable content, and software purchases are noncancelable, nonrefundable and nonreturnable. Click here for more information about LexisNexis eBooks. The eBook versions of this title may feature links to Lexis+® for further legal research options. A valid subscription to Lexis+® is required to access this content.

Table of Contents

FORETHOUGHTS

PART I: GOOD AND EVIL IN EVERY JUROR'S MIND

Chapter 1. The Social Psychology of Good and Evil

§ 1-1. Free Will and Determinism in the Garden of Good and Evil
§ 1-2. The Psychology of Good: Altruism and Helping Behaviors
§ 1-3. The Psychology of Evil: Aggression, Racism, Deception
§ 1-4. Forgiveness and Vengeance
§ 1-5. The Neuroscience of Fair Play

Chapter 2. Brain Science: The Biology of Right and Wrong Thinking

§ 2-1. The God Gene: Faith May Be Hard-Wired
§ 2-2. Brain Science and the Biology of Belief
§ 2-3. Where Morality Lives: Every Juror's Moral Brain

Chapter 3. Neurotheology and the Ethical Brain

§ 3-1. Neurotheology: Spiritual Neuroscience
§ 3-2. The Ethical Brain: The Science of Moral Dilemmas

PART II: MORAL ISSUES IN EVERY TRIAL

Chapter 4. Religion in Our Jury Pools

§ 4-1. The Religious Landscape in Our Communities
§ 4-2. Venire
§ 4-3. Jury Selection

Chapter 5. Trial Events That Intersect with Religion

§ 5-1. Trial Days and Hours
§ 5-2. Oaths
§ 5-3. Credibility of Witnesses
§ 5-4. Evidence
§ 5-5. Instructions of Law
§ 5-6. Closing Arguments
§ 5-7. Deliberations
§ 5-8. Verdicts

PART III: TRIAL TOOLS THAT ACKNOWLEDGE JUROR GOD-THINKING

Chapter 6. Jury Selection: Discovering the Moral Minds in a Jury Pool

§ 6-1. Voir Dire to Harvest and Explore a Juror's Moral Mind
§ 6-2. Voir Dire Strategies for Creating a Successful Challenge for Cause
§ 6-3. A 10-Step Challenge for Cause Dance
§ 6-4. Sample Approach to Developing a Challenge for Cause as Applied to Religious Beliefs
§ 6-5. Rethinking Questionnaire Items That Harvest God-Thinking Experiences

Chapter 7. Motions: Requests That Make a Difference

§ 7-1. Requests for Questionnaires That Deal with a Potential Juror's Religion
§ 7-2. Request for Voir Dire by Court on Issues Dealing with a Juror's Religious Beliefs
§ 7-3. Request for Opportunity to Voir Dire on Specific Religious Beliefs
§ 7-4. Request for Specific Accommodations for Jurors Based on Their Religious Beliefs and Practices
§ 7-5. Requests for Instructions to Jurors Limiting the Religious Material or Discussions That Might Occur During Trial or Deliberations
§ 7-6. Challenge to Jury Venire Based on Non-Representative Methods of Assembling the Venire

Chapter 8. Appellate Courts: God and Religion on Appeal

Chapter 9. Pre-Trial Investigations That Reveal Religious Landscapes

§ 9-1. Religious Scene Investigations [RSI]
§ 9-2. Background Checks

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Religion Is a Spiritual Lens for Judging Other People
The Red Queen Effect
Tread Lightly: Caveats

RESOURCES

A. Web Sites and Blogs About Religion
B. Sample Law Review Articles
C. Exemplar Court Opinions Involving Jurors and Religion
D. Fields v. Brown: An Appellate Decision Demonstrating
How Jurors Bring Religion into Deliberations
E. Books That Deepen an Understanding of Good & Evil in the Jury Room

Gratitudes
About the Author
Index

Featured Authors

SunWolf

Dr. SunWolf is a juryologist. She has been fascinated with jurors (and their imperfect worlds) since her first trial. A veteran of many roles within the American justice system (law school faculty, civil litigation attorney, Training Director for Colorado's Public Defender System, full-time appellate lawyer, trial consultant)--a moment of epiphany during a death penalty trial pushed her back to graduate school, where she completed both Master's and Doctoral degrees in Interpersonal and Group Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Now Professor of Communication at Santa Clara University, California, she teaches courses in relationships, group dynamics, friendships & romance, persuasion, storytelling, and the science of happiness. Her published research on jurors and children's peer groups has won national awards. Her books include Practical Jury Dynamics2: From One Juror's Trial Perceptions to the Group's Decision-Making Processes (LexisNexis). A translator of social science research for trial practitioners, Dr. SunWolf lectures at continuing legal education programs throughout the country. She is a 20-plus-year faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College. She is the originator of Decisional Regret Theory, which explains how jurors attempt to reduce the anxiety of anticipated verdict-regret by using counterfactual what-if and if-only imagined narratives. Professor SunWolf is also a Visiting Professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, annually teaching "449: Jury Law & Strategies"--devoted to thinking about a juror's complex trial task.

The American Society of Trial Consultants gave Dr. SunWolf their national service award for career dedication to pro bono work. Her book Practical Jury Dynamics2 received the Ernest Bormann Book Award from the National Communication Association for most outstanding scholarly book in the previous two years about group communication. In 2008, Dr. SunWolf received her university's research award, recognizing the tenured professor whose scholarly work over the previous five years best represents a major contribution to a field of knowledge. On Twitter® Dr. SunWolf shares new studies on social behavior: @TheSocialBrain was named by the Huffington Post as one of 30 high-profile scientists who tweet about neuroscience. She also tweets about jury law, strategies, and events as @JuryTalk. Web: ProfessorSunwolf.com

View All Books by SunWolf (3)

God-Thinking: Every Juror's Moral Brain, Religious Beliefs, and The Effects on a Trial Verdict

Featured Authors

SunWolf

ABOUT US

FOLLOW US

PAYMENTS

HEAD OFFICE

For US Orders

For International Orders