Literature Review from the year 2007 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1, University of Innsbruck, language: English, abstract: In this paper I will look at the film Twelve Angry Men (1957) by Sidney Lumet. In short the film is about a criminal case in America in which a young Hispanic boy is accused of killing his father and the twelve members of the jury have to decide on his verdict. In this case "e;guilty"e; means death. After talking about the film in more detail I will also look at the jury system in America and discuss some of its most important aspects, e.g. jury selection, possible verdicts or the principle "e;Burden of Proof"e;. In doing so, I will raise questions on how fair the jury system really is and what its weaknesses or points of criticism might be. I will then also discuss the various roles and duties of jurors and I will include ethical problems they might be confronted with in their deliberations. Furthermore, the question if a jury is capable of reaching a fair and legally correct verdict will be discussed and being looked at from different perspectives. To conclude this paper I will show why the jury system, despite its controversial position, is still used and probably will never be abolished.
