"The Runaway Jury"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the movie, "The Runaway Jury," tells the story of a lawsuit for wrongful death made against a gun manufacturer and how, as the story unfolds, the viewer sees that both the defense attorney team and two people not directly related to this lawsuit are trying to manipulate the legal process in order to get the outcomes they prefer to see. In particular, it looks at how the movie suggests that our jury selection process, and hence our legal system, can be corrupted in a variety of ways.

From the Paper:

"The movie illustrates potential ways to corrupt the trial process in several ways. While the efforts of the jury expert hired by the plaintiff's lawyers seem to work within the guidelines of the law, the viewer is given many indications that he cares little for staying within legal boundaries. He has a list of potential jurors before the jury selection process has begun, and he and his subordinates put tremendous effort into finding out all they can about them prior to jury selection. While this may not be illegal, the character, Mr. Finch, says, "Trials are too important to be left up to juries," and "Everybody has a secret they don't want you to find." After the jury has been selected, his team begins to dig to try to find personal secrets they can use against the jurors to influence their votes."

More papers on "The Runaway Jury":

• Film Review # 139312 : "Runaway Jury" - A Film Analysis"
• Film Review # 110371 : "'Runaway Jury' and Integrative Bargaining"
• Analytical Essay # 35395 : "John Grisham"

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