Why are potential jurors sometimes asked personal questions during the jury selection process?
Well jury selection is a process of lawyers, or people representing themselves, trying to find out whether individuals are unbiased, will they give them a fair hearing. And many lawsuits do concern very personal issues. And you want to know whether any of the people sitting on your jury – or who might be sitting on your jury – have had similar experiences which may bias them, perhaps, against you. When issues are very personal, the jurors don’t have to answer those questions in front of everybody. The judge will always invite them to either come up to the bench or go back into chambers, the judge’s office, and answer those questions in private.
