Juror Privacy in the Sixth Amendment Balance

Jurors are a crucial, indeed constitutional, component in our criminal justice system. In modern times, despite their importance, jurors have been asked to reveal intensely private information during voir dire. Litigants and trial judges have allowed such probing questions under the guise of protecting the accused’s rights to a fair and public trial and to an impartial jury. This Article has demonstrated that giving prospective jurors greater privacy protection in the way of their own voir dire challenge better serves the accused’s rights without jeopardizing the interests of the media and public to observe these public proceedings.

The added protection for jurors also promotes faith and integrity in our criminal jury system, and it is truer to the historic roots of voir dire.