Ex-offenders on the Stand: Steps toward Eliminating Jury Bias

The status of "ex-offender" has many negative consequences and proves especially damaging when an ex-offender is accused of a new crime. Previous research provides evidence that jurors are more prone to convict defendants when the defendent has a prior criminal record. The purpose of this article is to provide attorneys with a list of resources identified to correlate with attitudes toward ex-offenders. With this list, attorneys will be better able to identify potential jurors that hold stigmatizing attitudes toward ex-offenders. Grounded in the theories of normalization and legitimation, key juror attitudes to address during jury selection are highlighted, including authoritarianism, victimization history, and exposure to ex-offenders. We specifically articulate sample resources from the public domain for use by attorneys.