The Importance of Jury Service and the Role Diversity Plays in Case Outcomes (07/17/26 Replay, up to 1 General CEU Hour)
This General CEU provides Louisiana Social Workers with an educated, critical primer in understanding that juries lack diversity, not only in color, but also diversity of thought, experience, and socioeconomic background.
Facilitated by Sheila M. Wilkinson, LMSW, Esq., the Founder of Law & Social Work, and hosting our Speaker, Professor William Snowden, the Founder of The Juror Project, this General CEU provides Louisiana Social Workers with an educated, critical primer in understanding that juries lack diversity, and not simply that they lack diversity of color, but also diversity of thought, experience, and socioeconomic background.
Social Workers will clearly understand that this lack of representation is driven by the strategic exclusion of minorities during the selection process, legal barriers to jury participation, and also misconceptions about jury duty that discourage participation.
With questions of life and liberty in the balance, representative juries are an imperative to achieving just outcomes, and thus, this CEU aims to help Social Workers support change in the makeup of juries to better represent the American population and the communities most commonly accused.
OVERVIEW & LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This CEU aims to provide practical information about the criminal justice jury system, allowing Social Workers to put this knowledge into practice immediately, and for them to understand how these systems interact together to protect individuals in Louisiana.
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the ways jury diversity is removed from our jury panels
- Explain the jury process from summons to service
- Intelligently discuss barriers to service preventing a diverse jury of one’s peers from being assembled
- Realize the harms that come from systemic exclusions of people of diverse backgrounds and mindsets from accessing the power of the jury box
- Clarify the Social Workers’ role in jury service and the inextricably intertwined Value of Social Justice and its corresponding Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice
This General CEU was APPROVED by NASW-LA for General Hours. This CEU Replay can earn no more than 1 General CEU Hours. The 1 General CEU Hours includes the Videos and Activities.
CEU MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED
We highly suggest you print and take notes directly on the materials provided, rather than on separate paper. The Board historically has preferred integrated notes as proof of engagement during CEUs.
For this CEU, you have a Workbook. The link to access the materials is in the CEU Course.
Please note the extensive Copyright and Intellectual Property Notices. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, WORLDWIDE.
ACTIVITY / NEXT STEPS REQUIRED
At the end of the video, you might hear us say something like, "okay, activity time!" or "time for breakouts!". Because you are watching a replay, you won't be sent to a Breakout Room, but you are still required to complete the activity. Once you get to that point in the video, go to the next step and complete the next activity. If you have issues accessing anything, please email us.
Your Instructor
Sheila M. Wilkinson, Founder.
Sheila is originally from Houma, Louisiana, and is an educator, social worker and attorney. Her primary focus is empowering others to reach their full potential, guiding them towards resources and resolutions.
Heavily involved in community development, Sheila is a Founder of Resolve Mediation Group (a Louisiana nonprofit), as well as a Founder of the Louisiana Indian Law and Policy Association. She also serves on several nonprofit boards and professional organizations in New Orleans, particularly with ArtSpot Productions and within the Bar Governance of the Louisiana State Bar Association.
Completing her LL.M. in International and European Law with the Institute for European Studies in Brussels in 2014, Sheila’s current focus is on comparative EU/US law, as well as business law and its effective and efficient development. Prior to her LL.M., Sheila earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans in Civil Law with an International Legal Studies Certificate, and her Master’s of Social Work from Tulane University.
Sheila managed a partnership of law firms for 10 years, focusing on class actions and multi-district litigation prior to opening her own consulting firm in 2010. Since then, Sheila has divided her time between the United States and Belgium serving clients and educational institutions in both locations.
In New Orleans, Sheila teaches at the University of Phoenix, Loyola University and Herzing University. In Brussels, Sheila teaches at Vesalius College and United Business Institutes.
A lifelong learner, Sheila has two goals each day: (1) to make a stranger laugh and (2) to be a better person today than she was yesterday. With a keen sense of humor and mean baking skills, she happily and genuinely engages others wherever she goes.