Creators Syndicate
August 20, 2024
In colonial America, the British deprived colonists the
right to jury trials. This prohibition was cited as one of the causes of the
American Revolution. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence, the document
that delineated the Founders' grievances with Britain, included,
"Depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury." With
that document, America's Founding Fathers made trial by jury a right for which
they pledged "[their] lives, fortunes, and sacred honor."
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of
Independence, wrote, "I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor, ever
yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its
constitution."
Jury trials represent an important and expanding symbol of
American democracy. With the advent of questioning the outcome of elections,
the idea of one person, one vote is demonstrated by the jury trial.
The jury system, both civil and criminal, is vital to the
American way of life. The United States Constitution provides through the Sixth
Amendment, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to ... trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed."
Unfortunately, from that simple sentence, jury trials have
become extremely complex and exceedingly rare. In the criminal realm, state
jury trials occur in less than 5% of cases, and in federal court, there are
even fewer trials.
On the civil side, trials have become so costly and unwieldy
that cases are often settled, not on the merits but instead on the cost of
seeing the case through to a verdict.
Although juries and jurors are sacrosanct to the justice
system, a significant majority of people would rather expend time and effort at
evading service than just doing their civil duty and serving — in much the same
way that a significant number of people don't bother to vote.
There are hardships with serving as a juror. Getting away
from work, following behind in class or scrambling for child care are just a
few of the barriers to jury duty. However, the absence of working people, young
people or child-rearing parents skews the jury pool. The idea of a jury of
one's peers does mean a pool of jurors who don't work or can't work, are
retired or disabled, or are older jurors with adult children or no children.
A robust and thriving justice system conducts trials.
Forcing the government to prove an accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt is
vital to a democracy. Yet in the U.S., few people are proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. In a typical criminal prosecution, the first stage is a
probable cause hearing. The burden of proof at that stage: "Is it more
likely than not that a crime has been committed and the accused may have
committed the crime?"
That is not a very demanding burden, and yet if the
defendant pleads guilty, that is the only burden the government must meet. Although
we speak in glowing terms of the state having to prove someone guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt, very few prosecutions are ever tested at that threshold.
Jurors can also be an important check on overreaching by the
government and prosecutors. Jury nullification has long been a means to protect
defendants from unjust laws. Juries have the power to nullify the law in
individual cases by finding a defendant not guilty even when there is enough
evidence to prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
During prohibition, it was alcohol laws. In the late 1990s,
it was Dr. Jack Kevorkian and assisted suicide. Today, it is marijuana.
In this era of bashing long-standing institutions —
elections, the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress — we would do well to double down
on support for our system of trial by jury.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett,
Kelly & George P.C. His book "The Executioner's Toll, 2010" was
released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and
follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino).
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