Meanings
nounAllen charge (plural Allen charges)
plural Allen charges
- USlawAn instruction intended to prevent a hung jury by encouraging jurors in the minority to reconsider.
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin read the panel the Allen charge, an instruction meant to encourage juries to continue working until they reach a verdict, and sent them back to continue deliberating.
2006 September 26, Timothy Williams, “Gotti Jurors Say They’re Deadlocked”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 Jul 2015
Origin
After the legal case Allen v. United States (1896).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Allen charge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allen%20charge
MLA
“Allen charge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allen%20charge. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Allen charge,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Allen%20charge.
Source: Allen charge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.