Prof. Jasmine E. Harris has been appointed Co-Reporter for the Model Civil Jury Instructions Committee for the Third Circuit.
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Professor of Law Jasmine E. Harris was appointed as Co-Reporter for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s Committee on the Model Civil Jury.
The Committee’s goal is to help district judges prepare jury instructions and provide a way to quickly assemble instructions for all civil jury trials and most common federal cases to improve juror understanding, promote uniformity, and offer alternative instructions to fit a case’s evidence.
The Committee is currently chaired by the Honorable Wendy Beetlestone L’93, Adjunct Professor of Law at Penn Carey Law. Harris will be joined as a Co-reporter by Professor Edward A. Hartnett of the Seton Hall University School of Law. Harris’ appointment was confirmed by Chief Judge Michael A. Chagares.
Harris is a law and inequality legal scholar with expertise in disability law, antidiscrimination law, and evidence. Her work addresses law’s capacity to define and advance social norms of inclusion. Her evidence scholarship explores topics such as the application of critical theories to evidentiary rules, principles, and doctrine. A range of federal and state lawmakers and legal advocates regularly seek Harris’s opinion on issues of legislative and policy reforms related to disability laws and civil litigation.
Harris was elected to the American Law Institute earlier this year and serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc of the United States and as Chair of the Legal Advocacy Subcommittee to advise the organization on impact litigation.
In the late spring of 2004, Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, Senior Fellow at Penn Carey Law, appointed a committee of district judges to draft model civil jury instructions to help judges communicate more effectively with juries. David E. Kaufman & Leopold C. Glass Professor of Law Catherine Struve was recruited as one of the original Co-Reporters for the Committee.
“It is an honor to be nominated and appointed to serve in this role. Jury instructions offer a necessary bridge between law and fact and offer jurors guidance in carrying out their civic duties,” said Harris. “Professor Catherine Struve previously served in this role, and I enthusiastically continue the tradition of Penn’s engagement in this law reform work.”