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EMPIRICAL DATA ON RECRUITMENT & INTERNAL DYNAMICS OF GRAND JURIES ARE GATHERED TO DETERMINE THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC OF GRAND JURY BEHAVIOR & HOW THE BASIC BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS CAN BE ACCOUNTED. DATA WERE DERIVED FROM A CASE-BY-CASE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE 177TH DISTRICT COURT GRAND JURY OF HOUSTON, TEX & FROM IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED WITH FORMER MEMBERS OF GRAND JURIES IN HOUSTON & FROM A QUESTIONNAIRE MAILED TO ALL PERSONS WHO SERVED ON HARRIS COUNTY GRAND JURIES BETWEEN 1969 & 1972. 156 QUESTIONNAIRE'S WERE USED IN THE ANALYSIS; THEY CONTAINED INFORMATION ABOUT THE SE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRAND JURORS & ABOUT THEIR JURY DELIBERATIONS & EXPERIENCES. THE GRAND JURY SPENDS A SMALL AMOUNT OF TIME DELIBERATING ON THE VAST MAJORITY OF ITS CASES; A LOW LEVEL OF INTERNAL CONFLICT WAS INDICATED. THE GRAND JURY OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S RECOMMENDATIONS. SOME EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS BEHAVIOR LIE IN THE INORDINATELY HEAVY CASELOAD WHICH GRAND JURIES CARRY & IN THE TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO BECOME GRAND JURORS. THE PROCESS OF SELECTING JURORS IN TEX IS INTRICATE & ARBITRARY. GRAND JURY COMMISSIONORS CHOOSE JURORS & TEND TO CHOOSE FROM AMONG FAMILY & FRIENDS OF THE SAME SE LEVEL (UMC). THIS NONREPRESENTATIVE JURY COMPOSITION SHOWS ITSELF IN THE BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS OF THE GRAND JURY AS EVIDENCED IN THEIR AGREEMENT & SHORT DELIBERATIONS. NEWLY SELECTED JURORS ARE POORLY & INADEQUATELY TRAINED & SOCIALIZED, & INSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL FACTORS GIVE THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE A MONOPOLY ON VITAL INFORMATION & INSURE HIS ABILITY TO MANIPULATE GRAND JURIES. 2 TABLES. B. WEISBROD.

This study analyzes opinions published in the Federal Supplement between 1984 and 1995 which involve a right to privacy issue. Overall, only a slight majority of the opinions are supportive of the right to privacy claim raised in the case. However, opinions written by a Democratic judge are significantly more likely to support a right to privacy claim.

Appointment strategies of Reagan, Carter, and other recent presidents; judicial decisionmaking patterns, 1977-85. Compares levels of support for civil rights and civil liberties claims.