The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is concerned about the younger generation’s attention spans. He’s noticed increasing levels of distraction amongst younger jurors who’ve passed though his courts. In a recent speech, he proposed the idea that court information should be provided for jurors on screens, as that’s how, more often than not, they take in information. It’s almost as if these people mentioned in the story are handicapped without having technological mediation. Or, you know – it could just be that jury duty can be really boring. Curious stuff indeed.
The Telegraph reports:
He said: “Most are technologically proficient. Many get much information from the internet. They consult and refer to it. They are not listening. They are reading. “One potential problem is whether, learning as they do in this way, they will be accustomed, as we were, to listening for prolonged periods.
“Even if they have the ability to endure hours and days of sitting listening, how long would it be before some ask for the information on which they have to make their decision to be provided in forms which adapt to modern technology?
He said: “Our system of jury trials depends on 12 good men and women and true coming to court and listening to the case. Orality is the crucial ingredient of the adversarial system.
Telegraph: “Web-savvy young make bad jurors because they cannot listen, says Lord Chief Justice”
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