Judge Dennis Davis
Representations of Juries in Film: 12 Angry Men and The Trial of the Chicago 7
Summary
A nuanced reflection on the portrayal of juries in two iconic court room films, 12 Angry Men (1957) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and a larger conversation on judges, juries, and justice in the real world.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
It can, no question. Let me share a lovely story with you about Judge Leopold Greenberg, one of the great South African judges obviously was Jewish when he was a judge in the Transvaal division trying a criminal case. He told the jury basically that he thought the guy was guilty and they all came back and said they found him not guilty. The judge said what? And he said, not guilty by reason of insanity, to which the judge said, you mean all 12 of you?So, sometimes they don’t listen to judges.