7th Circuit Court of Appeals Updates Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ Committee on Federal Criminal Jury Instruction has updated the pattern criminal jury instructions. 

The revised instructions are the product of more than three years of work by the judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and academics who served on the committee under the leadership of Judge Bill Bauer. The Judicial Conference authorized the publication of the revisions. 

The committee has removed the pattern instructions for 18 U.S.C. 1591 because they are no longer accurate in light of recent caselaw. The committee has prepared new proposed instructions, which it expects to post for comment soon.