How Valuable is the Perception of Fairness in Civil Jury Trials?

    The United States Supreme Court has consistently held that procedures must "satisfy the appearance of justice." E.g., Liljeberg v. Health Acquisition Servs. Corp., 486 U.S. 847, 864 (1988) (quoting In Re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133, 136 (1955). But if civil jury trial procedures are actually fair and just in reaching outcomes, why does it matter whether the parties or the public perceive them to be so?

    The appearance of justice has been deemed as important as justice itself. To quote former Justice Frankfurter, the appearance of impartiality is "an essential manifestation of its reality." Dennis v. United States, 339 U.S. 162, 182 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting). The perception of fairness in civil jury trials is valuable because it impacts public beliefs about the system's legitimacy. If individuals develop attitudes that the judicial system is biased or unfair, they will be less likely to respect the outcomes of that system. Without the appearance of fairness or justice, decreased respect for the judicial system may result in a gradual erosion of obedience to the law. 

    At trial, there is much more at stake than the actual matter in contest. If litigants and the public perceive the dispute resolution process as impartial, they are more likely to accept the legitimacy of the outcome and believe that justice has been served. In fact, political and legal academic theorists generally agree that government authority can only function effectively when citizens support them enough to comply willingly with their directives. 

    In the case of legal authorities, both the ability of the courts to influence the structure of law and the ability of the police and other government officials to enforce the law depend upon public satisfaction with, confidence in, and trust of legal authorities. Tom R. Tyler, The Role of Perceived Injustice in Defendants' Evaluations of Their Courtroom Experience, 18 LAW & SOC'Y REV. 51, 51-52 (1984) (citations omitted). "The theory that trust plays a key role in the authoritativeness of government and the willingness of citizens to cooperate with government decisions and leaders has been validated by research suggesting that a lack of public support leads to willingness to disobey the law and to engage in anti-system behaviors such as riots." Id. In other words, it is more difficult to govern without the respect of the governed, which derives in part from the appearance of the fairness of the processes employed by government. The appearance of fairness in civil litigation is crucial because without it, the judicial system becomes irrelevant. 

    One important component of perceived fairness is the presence of an impartial decision maker. In civil jury trials, some circumstances require a potential juror to be excused regardless of the juror's actual ability to be fair. See Chestnut v. Ford Motor Co., 445 F.2d 967, 971 (4th Cir. 1971). Regardless of the actual impartiality of the judge or jury, the process will be legitimate and the results acceptable only if that impartiality is unquestionable in the minds of the litigants. Thus, properly assembled civil juries increase the valuable appearance of fairness in the American judicial system.