IllinoisJury Nullification
In Illinois one sentence of statute gives questions of law to the court and questions of fact to the jury. The pattern instruction tells jurors it is their duty to follow all of the instructions. State law sets a jury of twelve. A verdict of guilty or not guilty needs the unanimous verdict of the jury.
Overview
Juries in Illinois
Illinois says it in one sentence of statute. Questions of law are decided by the court and questions of fact by the jury. The same statute sets a jury of twelve and requires a unanimous verdict.
The pattern instruction read to an Illinois jury tells jurors to follow all of the instructions and not to single out some and disregard others. What else that instruction covers, including what it says about punishment, is in the Illinois chapter of the guide.
The Illinois constitution keeps the right of trial by jury as it was enjoyed before, and gives the accused a speedy public trial by a jury of the county. What those two sections mean in a trial is in the chapter.
The Illinois chapter
What's in the Guide for Illinois?
Jury selection
How many possible jurors each side in an Illinois trial can remove without giving a reason, how that number changes with the charge and the number of defendants, and what the statute says about challenges for cause.
What the judge tells you
What the Illinois pattern instruction on the functions of the court and the jury says about the law, the facts and the sentence, and what a second instruction says about believing a witness.
How the verdict works
Which verdicts in Illinois need the whole jury to agree, how alternates are chosen, and what happens to the notes jurors take once there is a verdict.
Protections and risks
What Illinois law says about contacting a person who has been summoned as a juror, and about harassing a juror or a juror's family because of a verdict.
The law in plain English
The Illinois laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statute on trial by court and jury, the statute on choosing a jury or a judge, the laws on communicating with jurors and on harassing them, and two sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Illinois's official sources, each one checked. They cover the compiled statutes and constitution, the Illinois Courts' rules and pattern criminal jury instructions, and the circuit court jury information page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Illinois?
An Illinois jury summons asks you to come to your county's court and, if you are picked, to decide the facts of a case as one of twelve jurors.
The Illinois Courts publish a Circuit Court Jury Information page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers the summons. How jurors are challenged, what the pattern instruction asks of you, and what Illinois law does for a juror after a verdict are covered in the Illinois chapter of the guide.
Your Illinois summons
- Sent byThe clerk of the circuit court of your county
- Names come fromRegistered voters, Illinois driver's license or ID card holders, and unemployment insurance claimants
- It asks you toCome to your county's court and, if you are picked, decide the facts of a case as one of twelve jurors
- Jury size12