“Can I Have My Notes Back?” Note-Taking and the Effects of Retrieval-Induced Forgetting on Jury Deliberations

Abstract

With the justice system constantly under the microscope of public opinion, the flawed nature of jury deliberations is an issue that has come to the foreground of thought in this day and age. While courts across the country put a significant emphasis relying on memories, especially with the jurors, emerging literature in the psychological field suggests that human memory is faulty in a way that could be detrimental to the search for justice in a trial by jury. This paper explores the effect on memory that jury deliberations have, and how policy can use note-taking to combat some of the negative effects that come along with the inherent flawed nature of relying simply on memories in jury deliberation.