What does (the jury is still out) mean?

"So their endorsement or non-endorsement basically means nothing in this case," Aftergood said, adding, "In this context, the assessments that count the most are those of CIA, NSA, FBI and ODNI."

The intelligence community likely limited the Russia assessment to those four agencies because they have the most to contribute on this topic, and because they wanted to contain the highly sensitive intelligence as much as possible, said Paul Pillar, senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies who served in the intelligence community for 28 years.

"The ones that participated are the ones you’d expect on this," Pillar said. "It’s hard to see any of the others having something to contribute."

"That does not vitiate the conclusions. It does not mean the jury is still out," he added.

Question

What does (the jury is still out) mean?


"So their endorsement or non-endorsement basically means nothing in this case," Aftergood said, adding, "In this context, the assessments that count the most are those of CIA, NSA, FBI and ODNI."

The intelligence community likely limited the Russia assessment to those four agencies because they have the most to contribute on this topic, and because they wanted to contain the highly sensitive intelligence as much as possible, said Paul Pillar, senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies who served in the intelligence community for 28 years.

"The ones that participated are the ones you’d expect on this," Pillar said. "It’s hard to see any of the others having something to contribute."

"That does not vitiate the conclusions. It does not mean the jury is still out," he added.

katiem415 · Accepted Answer

The jury is still out = a decision hasn't been made yet, a consensus hasn't been reached yet

In court, the jury goes to a separate room to decide the verdict. So if the jury is still "out" of the courtroom, they are still trying to make a decision

Alisha_D · Answer

In a court case, the jury is said to be "out" when the jurors are out of the courtroom discussing the case among themselves and trying to reach a verdict.

So, if someone says figuratively that "the jury is still out," it means that a conclusion or opinion has not yet been decided regarding whatever the topic is. "The jury" could be any group of people: "The jury is still out on whether the pitcher will be able to play in next week's baseball game" > in this case, "the jury" means the pitcher's doctors, and maybe his coach, and they haven't made a decision about whether he's well enough to play.

In the article, Pillar's statement is a bit unusual in that he's suggesting that the jury is *not* still out ... in other words, that a conclusion *has* been reached. It's not a typical usage of the idiom.

The jury is still out = a decision hasn't been made yet, a consensus hasn't been reached yet In court, the jury goes to a separate room to decide the verdict. So if the jury is still "out" of the courtroom, they are still trying to make a decision

The jury is still out = a decision hasn't been made yet, a consensus hasn't been reached yet In court, the jury goes to a separate room to decide the verdict. So if the jury is still "out" of the courtroom, they are still trying to make a decision

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The jury is still out = a decision hasn't been made yet, a consensus hasn't been reached yet

In court, the jury goes to a separate room to decide the verdict. So if the jury is still "out" of the courtroom, they are still trying to make a decision

The jury is still out = a decision hasn't been made yet, a consensus hasn't been reached yet

In court, the jury goes to a separate room to decide the verdict. So if the jury is still "out" of the courtroom, they are still trying to make a decision