What is the purpose of having plain English jury instructions?
The frustrations expressed by jurors during deliberations indicate a need to improve the clarity (and, thereby, the efficacy) of jury instructions. Jury instructions are not intended to provide a crash course on governing legal principles so that duly educated jurors can engage in the same decision-making process as a well-trained judge. Rather, jury instructions should present the factual issues to be decided and those legal rules the jury must use in deciding such issues.
