Deliberation and Dissent: \u3cem\u3e12 Angry Men\u3c/em\u3e Versus the Empirical Reality of Juries

This article contrasts the cinematic portrayal of jury deliberation in 12 Angry Men with an empirical portrait of real world juries derived from fifty years of jury research. The messages of this iconic movie converge with the findings of research studies in some surprising ways. During the course of the movie\u27s deliberation, the different perspectives of the movie\u27s jurors emerge as important contributors to the jury\u27s fact finding, reinforcing the empirical finding that diversity among jurors produces robust deliberation and superior decision making. 12 Angry Men also illustrates both the importance of majority opinions and the power of dissenters under a unanimous decision rule