NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Sara Lewis
Director of Communications
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1527

  National Center for State Courts Expert To
 Appear on A&E’s American Justice

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (August 1, 2002) – Tom Munsterman, director of the Center for Jury Studies at the National Center for State Courts, will appear during a special 2-hour program, American Justice: We, the Jury, on the A&E channel to be aired Wednesday, August 7 at 9 p.m.

The 10th Anniversary special of the A&E channel series will look at the heart of the American system of justice, the jury. It’s one of the most cherished and most ridiculed rights in this country. In poll after poll, Americans have listed the trial by jury as one this country’s most important institutions, but almost everyone knows the sinking feeling of getting a jury summons in the mail. Even so, few know what the gritty reality of the jury room feels like or how 12 ordinary Americans come together to render justice.

American Justice is A&E's signature weekly series on criminal justice in America. Produced by Towers Productions, and hosted by award-winning journalist, Bill Kurtis, the California Public Defenders Association has hailed American Justice as "presenting a balanced, reflective and insightful perspective on the most controversial aspects of criminal law in the nation."

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia, was founded in 1971 by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and the Conference of Chief Justices. The National Center is a non-profit, court-reform organization that provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.

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