Pros And Cons Of The American Jury System

The american jury system is one of the most controversial and outdated things in the american court system. The american jury system works as a way for a convicted person on trial to have their fate decided by a group of 12 random people of the community. From the time this system was put into place in the court system it has been a highly debated topic for the people of america for a couple reasons. Lots of ordinary people in the community will talk about how they dread when they are picked for jury duty, jury duty makes the people who are chosen to take a day off work and lose a whole day's pay and pretty much waste a person's time. The jury system has been around since the 1400’s(timeline), it first started in england and like most stuff in the constitution it was based off the english ideas like jury duty.

A bench trial is a trial where the convicted person's fate is decided by the judge, a trial by jury is when 12 random people are called upon by the court and are chosen to be part of the jury to hear the trial and decide the fate of the person being accused in the trial. Most times the decision has to be unanimous or if the jury cannot decide they will call a hung jury and a new set of 12 people will be brung in to decide the trial. The person that is on trial has the right to decide if they want a trial by jury or a bench trial. “The role of jury service in promoting self-governance and civic participation is hardly an accident. The framers of the united states constitution viewed jury service as a critically important feature of self-governance and guaranteed the right to serve on juries in the seventh amendment.” (document C) Only people who are registered to vote and are over the age of eighteen are eligible to be called upon for jury