What is voir dire?

• A. Questioning of jurors under oath about their qualifications to sit on a jury
• B. The process of selecting a jury from the population
• C. The act of delivering the verdict
• D. The swearing in of a jury

Answer: (A)

Voir dire is the screening of potential jurors through questioning, conducted under oath, to determine whether they are qualified and can be impartial in a given case. During this process, a judge and the attorneys ask about any biases, prior knowledge of the case, relationships to the parties, or other factors that might affect a juror’s ability to judge the evidence fairly. The goal is to identify anyone who may be biased or otherwise disqualified, so they can be excused or challenged for cause. Attorneys may also use peremptory challenges to remove jurors for reasons not requiring a stated cause, though those challenges are separate from the core voir dire questioning.

This is distinct from selecting a jury in the broader sense, delivering the verdict, or swearing in the jury, all of which occur at different stages of the trial.