7th Amendment Pros And Cons

The 7th Amendment is a criminally underrated amendment. If one was to ask the average American which amendment best protects their rights, one would likely hear the First Amendment, Second Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, or even the Twenty-first Amendment if they enjoy partying. However, these answers are all incorrect (not to say that the other amendments are not important as well of course). The Seventh Amendment best protects the right of all Americans by preventing the government from incarcerating a citizen on flimsy charges and ensuring that a citizen will not be imprisoned or punished without good cause. Without the Seventh Amendment, Americans could be subject to tyranny and have no protection from the government. The Seventh Amendment

The concept of a trial by one’s peers and the due process under the law has its roots from the Magna Carta, written way back in 1215. The Magna Carta also lay the basis for checks and balances, which is the concept that American government was founded on. Moving forward, before the late 1600’s in England, only a judge would give verdicts, and many judges would give verdicts in the favor of the King. This obviously led to many injustices and was a form of tyranny. However, around the late 1600s, people of England could have a trial by jury to determine cases of common law, which led to fair trials. Unfortunately, it is this very trial by jury that King George III abolished in the Colonies. This infuriated the colonists, and was one the main grievances that were addressed in the Declaration of Independence. The Founding Fathers had first hand experience of what tyranny could occur without a right to a jury of peers, and protected all Americans by creating the Seventh

Some may conjecture that if one is not going to be in a trial, then the amendment is not really that important and has little effect on one’s life. They are sorely mistaken. The Seventh Amendment is a fairly simple one, yet is critically important to freedom of every American. Basically, the amendment has two parts. First, at the federal level an American has the guarantee to a trial by jury (almost all states have similar amendments as well). The second part is that the jury is the final arbitrator of your innocence or guilt. This is a critical concept of the amendment. Just like in early England and the colonies, if a judge is the arbitrator, then there is no protection from the government. The judge could jail one for anything. Fortunately, under a jury of one’s peers, one will be judged fairly, and the government will lack the power to commit tyranny against the American people. The Seventh Amendment is yet another check on government power. WIth this check against tyranny and the guarantee of a fair trial, all Americans are protected under the Constitution. Without the Seventh Amendment, Americans would be subject to tyranny, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness would be heavily