Jury System Dbq Essay

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“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” This quote stated by George Bernard Shaw represents America’s jury system perfectly. We should ultimately eliminate the jury system from court, and use the bench system in all criminal and civil cases. Although there are many reasons why eliminating the jury system is a better choice, many people want to keep the jury system only because we have used it for a long time and they fear change. Without change, progress is impossible and those who want to keep the jury system should change their mind. The bench system should replace the jury system in all criminal cases because it is more accurate, it is less costly, and it is time efficient. …show more content…

When finding a jury system, the court attempts to find twelve adults that are unbiased to decide the fate of the defendant. If we lived in a perfect world, that would work but we do not. Almost everybody has an opinion on certain topics that revolve around a case including the death penalty and their own experiences. A jurors will always be biased no matter what they put down when filling out their form. For example, in the 2008 court case, the verdict of the jury stunned the public making many raged and confused (Document D). The jury may not be experienced enough and can make fatal mistakes. Not only are the jurors biased, they are inexperienced. As shown in cartoon 1, 2, and 3 (Document E), many of the jurors have no experiences with court and base their verdicts on factors other than what the lawyers are giving them. Examples such as the jurors being dogs, verdict based on appearance, and being distracted with other issues during the court trial. The juror is inexperienced and biased, while the judge is experienced with what is going around during a trial, and they have been trained to be able to see both sides of a story and decide on evidence and …show more content…

During the Boston Bombing trial, the court system retrieved three thousand citizens of Boston to be surveyed. It took those months to get the twelve adults they needed which is a really long time. In those three months where they were choosing a jury, they could have already completed the trial and the verdict would have been reached much quicker. Instead of waiting months for the jury to be selected, they could have rolled with one or two judges, three at max, to decide on the case. Juror selection is a long and complicated process that requires patience, money, and time. Why spend months trying to find a costly, inexperienced group of people when having a judge is much more