Improving Pattern Jury Instructions

Juries and jury trials have received unprecedented attention in recent years. Much of the focus has been on pretrial jury management issues and in-court trial procedures. While concentration on these management issues has been predominant, many judicial and bar leaders have become increasingly aware of the importance of jury instructions. The attention has centered on what has become recognized as Pattern Jury Instructions (PJI). The Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Judicial Conference, and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) began working together to develop a program for Ohio on how PJI could best serve the courts in assuring credibility to trial judges, lawyers, and reviewing courts in that State, and providing legal accuracy and clarity to jurors. Although the original project focused on Ohio, it was soon realized that many PJI committees throughout the United States had been created to examine internal procedures to address the same organizational and technical issues. The Ohio Supreme Court and NCSC received a SJI grant (SJI-07-N-009) to develop a program that would assist Ohio in this important area.

Ohio has since included other PJI committees in these efforts and is hosting a two-day National Conference on Pattern Jury Instructions on April 17-18, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. The conference will feature plenary sessions on topics of interest to all PJI members and concurrent sessions focusing on unique issues related to civil or criminal PJI committees, and PJI committee management and reporting. All members of state and federal PJI committees are invited to attend. States interested should are encouraged to visit the website: www.pjiconference.org.