remaining prospective jurors in the order that their names were originally chosen. Any prospective jurors not thus impaneled return to the jury pool room. Jury behavior Scholarly research on jury behavior in American non-capital criminal felony trials reveals that juror outcomes appear to track the opinions of the median juror, rather than the opinions of the extreme juror on the panel, although juries were required to render unanimous verdicts in the jurisdictions studied. Thus, although juries must render unanimous verdicts, in run-of-the-mill criminal trials they behave in practice as if they were operating using a majority rules voting system. Jury effectiveness As much of the research on social conformity suggests, individuals tend to lose their sense of individuality when faced with powerful group forces (i.e., normative influence; informational influence; interpersonal influence). This raises the question if the effectiveness of jury decision-making compromised by individuals’ tendencies to conform to the normative transmissions of a group. Since a clear archetype for determining guilt does not exist, the criminal justice system must rely on rulings handed down by juries. Even after a decision has been made, it is virtually impossible to know whether a jury has been correct or incorrect in freeing or accusing a defendant of a crime. Although establishing the effectiveness of juries is an arduous task, contemporary research has provided some partial support for the proficiency of juries as decision makers. Though, a growing body of research has shown that in certain trial types, including for rape and other serious sexual offenses, pre-trial juror biases, and attitudes appear to be a major barrier to justice. The role of a juror Evidence has shown that jurors typically take their roles very seriously. According to Simon (1980), jurors approach their responsibilities as decision makers much in the same way as a court judge – with great seriousness, a lawful mind, and a concern for consistency that is evidence-based. By actively processing evidence, making inferences, using common sense and personal experiences to inform their decision-making, research has indicated that jurors are effective decision makers who seek thorough understanding, rather than passive, apathetic participants unfit to serve on a jury. Judge-jury agreement Evidence supporting jury effectiveness has also been illustrated in studies that investigate the parallels between judge and jury decision-making. According to Kalven and Zeisel (1966), it is not uncommon to find that the verdicts passed down by juries following a trial match