Jordan Alcasas
News Editor
Paul Naccachian, assistant professor of law, gave a lecture discussing cognitive biases in jury selection, which can affect the composition of the jury, Tuesday in the Lewis Center classroom. These biases may include factors such as race, education level, gender, even voice, he told the audience of about 20 University of La Verne community members.
The lecture was titled “Measuring Implicit Bias in Jury Selection: Evaluating, Socioeconomic, Geographic, and Psychological Factors with Peremptory Challenges Applying Objectively Reasonable Person Standard.”
Naccachian, who shared his ongoing research on biases within the jury selection process that often leads to the dismissal of jurors, said that these biases are part of society and are to some degree unavoidable.
“The overarching intent is to reduce this ratio and the biases involved,” he said. “This orderly living is inherently tied to categorization and integral to our cognitive functioning.”
Naccachian elaborated on these biases later on in the lecture.
“Once it is learned, it becomes part of our non-conscious systems,” he said. “Everybody becomes more convinced about what they believe is true.”
Naccachian provided examples of traits that form biases, such as preconceived notions of what troublemakers, weapon buyers, or gun buyers may look like.
“My prediction is that we’ll find our jury isn’t undereducated based on the census data given the area codes and so on,” he said. “This practice doesn’t produce an outcome that’ll be outwardly beneficial from a tactical standpoint of the defense, but it always allows a potential juror the right to serve on that jury.”
Naccachian moved on to speaking about a state law, AB 3070, which took effect in 2022 for criminal cases and will take effect for civil cases in 2026. This law’s purpose is to increase transparency in jury selection by requiring lawyers that are exercising peremptory strikes to show clear evidence that their action in juror selection is unrelated to the juror’s demographics.
Naccachian said that AB 3070 is a part of a larger effort beyond California to increase jury transparency.
Naccachian concluded the lecture with a brief questioning segment later on.
Audience members had various opinions on different parts of the lecture, from the research itself to the discussion about AB3070.
“Professor Naccachian’s research is timely and a welcome conversation for the legal profession,” said Kevin Marshall, the dean of the University’s College of Law, who attended the lecture.
Other audience members focused on the relevance to current juries and transparency.
“Although some of the conclusions he cited from other literature seemed surprising, all of this background is very relevant to people’s everyday experiences in courts,” said Alessandro Morosin, assistant professor of sociology. “Of course it connects very well to many of the topics we teach in our sociology and criminology courses.”
After questions from the audience, Naccachian closed the lecture.
“The argument is that we are too quick to dismiss the individuals who are uneducated for a variety of reasons,” Naccachian said. “So, there’s an assumption the jury is tainted because of dismissals for that cause.”
Jordan Alcasas can be reached at jordan.alcasas@laverne.edu.
Jordan Alcasas is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. He is the news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as social media editor and a staff writer.
