Fox Reality Show ‘You the Jury’ Lets Viewers Decide Civil Cases

Fox has ordered a new reality series titled You the Jury that will let viewers at home vote to decide the outcome of real civil court cases.

According to the Wrap, Fox News personality Jeanine Pirro will host the show, with each episode featuring a courtroom battle based on the day’s hot-button topics like free speech, gay rights and religious freedom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yXlWCExy3Q

After the facts and evidence in each case are presented, viewers will get to vote — American Idol-style through text messages and the Fox Now app — on the outcome of the case, with both the plaintiff and the defendant agreeing beforehand to abide by the decision of the voters.

While Eastern and Central time zone viewers will get to weigh in earlier, the verdict could be overturned on the West Coast broadcasts if the cumulative number of votes from all viewers is enough to sway the outcome.

The Wrap also reports that the “closing arguments” in the cases — traditionally delivered by attorneys for the plaintiff and defendant — will instead be delivered by the plaintiffs and the defendants themselves as they sit across from each other.

“Welcome to the new face of American justice,” Pirro says in the promo for the series (above).

In addition to Pirro, the show’s cases will be presided over by former California Superior Court judge LaDoris Cordell and six attorneys are set as regulars: Jose Baez, Benjamin Crump, Joseph Tacopina, Areva Martin, Mike Cavalluzzi and Charla Aldous.

You the Jury premieres Friday, April 7 at 9 Eastern on Fox.

 

Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum