Andrew S. Rumschlag (Case Western Reserve University School of Law) has posted Iceberg Ahead: Why Courts Should Presume Bias in Cases of Extraneous Juror Contacts (Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 72, No. 2, 2021) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In 1954, the Supreme Court declared that outside influences on jurors are “presumptively prejudicial” in Remmer v. United States. Although the incident before the Remmer Court involved actual jury tampering, extraneous contacts involving jurors—and juror misconduct generally—comes in many forms. The internet requires courts to address extraneous contact involving internet research and social media. This article examines attempts by the Supreme Court, federal circuits, and state courts to combat extraneous contacts involving jurors to propose a uniform procedural framework. The proposed framework strikes an appropriate balance between the constitutional guarantee of an impartial jury and concerns of judicial efficiency.
