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A Jury of Her Peers: The Impact of the First Female Jurors on Criminal Convictions

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  • Shamena Anwar
  • Patrick Bayer
  • Randi Hjalmarsson

Abstract

This article uses an original data set of more than 3,000 cases from 1918 to 1926 in the Central Criminal Courts of London to study the effect of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919. Implemented in 1921, this Act made women eligible to serve on English juries. Results based on a pre-post research design imply that the inclusion of women had little effect on overall conviction rates but significantly impacted conviction rates on particularly female salient cases: sex offences, violent offences with female versus male victims and female defendants charged with ‘other’ (largely abortion related) offences.

Suggested Citation

  • Shamena Anwar & Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2019. "A Jury of Her Peers: The Impact of the First Female Jurors on Criminal Convictions," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(618), pages 603-650.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:129:y:2019:i:618:p:603-650.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecoj.12562
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    1. Lakshmi Iyer & Anandi Mani & Prachi Mishra & Petia Topalova, 2012. "The Power of Political Voice: Women's Political Representation and Crime in India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 165-193, October.
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    3. Shamena Anwar & Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2019. "Politics in the Courtroom: Political Ideology and Jury Decision Making," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 834-875.
    4. Shamena Anwar & Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2010. "Jury Discrimination in Criminal Trials," Working Papers 671, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    5. Sarah F. Anzia & Christopher R. Berry, 2011. "The Jackie (and Jill) Robinson Effect: Why Do Congresswomen Outperform Congressmen?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 478-493, July.
    6. Freixas, Xavier & Ma, Kebin, 2014. "Banking Competition and Stability: The Role of Leverage," CEPR Discussion Papers 10121, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Kevin Campbell & Antonio Mínguez-Vera, 2008. "Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 435-451, December.
    8. Shamena Anwar & Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2014. "The Role of Age in Jury Selection and Trial Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 1001-1030.
    9. James Andreoni & Lise Vesterlund, 2001. "Which is the Fair Sex? Gender Differences in Altruism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 293-312.
    10. Ashenfelter, Orley & Eisenberg, Theodore & Schwab, Stewart J, 1995. "Politics and the Judiciary: The Influence of Judicial Background on Case Outcomes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 257-281, June.
    11. Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson & Shamena Anwar, 2010. "Jury Discrimination in Criminal Trials," Working Papers 10-57, Duke University, Department of Economics.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Bindler & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2020. "The Persistence of the Criminal Justice Gender Gap: Evidence from 200 Years of Judicial Decisions," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(2), pages 297-339.
    2. Foresta, Alessandra, 2025. "Lady Justice: The impact of female judges on jury trial verdicts in North Carolina," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Luis Sarmiento & Adam Nowakowski, 2023. "Court Decisions and Air Pollution: Evidence from Ten Million Penal Cases in India," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(3), pages 605-644, November.
    4. Pruckner, Gerald J. & Stiftinger, Flora & Zocher, Katrin, 2025. "When women take over: Physician gender and health care provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Bindler, Anna & Hjalmarsson, Randi, 2016. "The Fall of Capital Punishment and the Rise of Prisons: How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts," Working Papers in Economics 674, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    6. Ash, Elliott & Asher, Sam & Bhowmick, Aditi & Bhupatiraju, Sandeep & Chen, Daniel L. & Devi, Tatanya & Goessmann, Christoph & Novosad, Paul & Siddiqi, Bilal, 2022. "Measuring Gender and Religious Bias in the Indian Judiciary," TSE Working Papers 22-1395, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    7. Jinglin Wen, 2024. "Female chief officers and crime: evidence from England and Wales," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 1-40, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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