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The Pros And Cons Of The Civil Jury System

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The concepts of the civil jury system date back to the Middle Ages “when twelve ‘compurgators,’ essentially witnesses, were gathered together to take an oath that [a] party was honest, or to attest that they had witnessed a relevant transaction. The assumption was that God would intervene on the side of the innocent person” (Doroshow 3). These essential prejudices boil down to the belief that each individual possesses an inalienable right to defend his/her self. The Founding Fathers of the United States supported this belief. Even though it took numerous years to include a protection against the infringement of individuals to defend his/herselves in civil cases in the law of the United States, many colonies included such a protection in their colonial constitutions. Some of these included: the 1776 Constitution of Virginia Bill of Rights, the 1776 Constitution …show more content…

For this reason, safeguarding the civil jury system for future generations holds great importance to anyone who wishes to give a better future to the next generation. Correspondingly, “civil juries express the conscience of the community, injecting shared values into their decisions about society’s tolerance for certain types of behavior. In this way, civil juries perform a norm-setting or signaling function that deters potential wrongdoers from dangerous conduct… In addition, the civil jury system educates the public about civic virtues, democratic values and the law itself” (IMPACT 1). Basically, the right of trial by jury must be sustained because it is the right of the people and in the end, it involves more people in their civic duties and helps regulate the courts and

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The Founding Fathers wanted the people of the United States to be in a democracy or self-government and established the jury system into the constitution. It is expensive and is a long process to start a jury trial. Also, jurors are not as professional as judges and can not determine a fair verdict. The Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) effect might also affect the verdict of the jury. The American jury system should not be used because of it not being cost-effective, the lack of experience of the jury, which leads to justice not being served, and the CSI effect impacting the

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1820 Words | 8 Pages

Our rejection of simple-majority jury decisions, I believe, was deeply-rooted. In the 1700’s, Sir William Blackstone made his opinion clear that a jury trial was the most “transcendent privilege” any person can hope for. 3 Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 379 (1768). That no state can take away your property or liberty without the “unanimous consent of twelve of his neighbors and equals,” was a great comfort to Blackstone, as it should be to all of us. Id. John Adams believed that a unanimous jury is the thing that “preserves the rights of mankind.”

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960 Words | 4 Pages

While this idea may seem logical, some people still argue that the court system should be based on facts and not emotion. However, like stated before, a jury works best if it takes into consideration the actual human side of the case, just like how juries ruled against slave laws in the 1800s. Summary As the case defending jury nullification draws to an end, it is evident that this legal practice is truly benefiting the American court system: Not only does jury nullification prevent unjust laws being enforced, but it also provides more reasonable punishments to criminals and controls the corruption happening in the courtroom.

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1285 Words | 6 Pages

Like the Electoral College, several of the plans made by the Founding Fathers have lost some of their practicality. What worked in the past does not always work in the future, and this is the case for the jury system. The sole reason it was created was to ensure that each citizen was guaranteed a fair trial, which was a main concern due to Britain’s monarchy. In modern times, however, the judicial branch of the United States could easily give every citizen a fair trial with only a judge presiding over the case. It is clear that bench trials are superior to trials by jury because the citizens on juries are unqualified or biased, its benefits do not outweigh its burdens, and its claim to encourage civic duty is false.

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

The American jury system has been around for centuries but all of a sudden, people are trying to change it. Hundreds of years ago in England, the first of the jury systems were adopted. When there was a crime, the accused was brought before a judge and jury (B.E.). The jury, a group of twelve white men, from the area the crime was committed, heard the case and all of the evidence (B.E.). Those 12 men, decided whether or not the person being accused was guilty or not.

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946 Words | 4 Pages

“Observers of the American jury system have remarked on its ability to elevate ordinary citizens into self-governors.” (Document C, 293) Many people complain about the amount of government control that there is in America. This is one of the things that gives us a say in our government. This allows us to govern ourselves and work our hardest to choose the correct verdict for the case.

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125 Words | 1 Pages

Critics try to counter by saying that jury nullification is a bad method because juries are not experienced and trained as police and prosecutor are. The thing is though juries are useful exactly because they are not trained to know the law. They are a common sense point of view because they are not affected by restricting law. Such a common sense point of view is necessary to properly balance the rule of law with the fair application of justice—because a purely legal approach made by lawyers and judges can often result in harsh results. That is why it is important to have another party whose views can be different from judges and lawyers to have the power to counter the wrongness made by them.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Another reason citizens question juries is that they have bias from personal experience or the media. The defendant and the prosecution criticize the jury system because the actual jurors may not understand the situation from any point of view because they come from different lifestyles (Doc E). The American jury system is not a good idea anymore because juries are not experts in law, they have bias, and are not “a jury of peers”. Because jurors are not experts in law, they are subject to be

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1186 Words | 5 Pages

Twelve Angry Men is in many ways a love letter to the American legal justice system. We find here eleven men, swayed to conclusions by prejudices, past experience, and short-sightedness, challenged by one man who holds himself and his peers to a higher standard of justice, demanding that this marginalized member of society be given his due process. We see the jurors struggle between the two, seemingly conflicting, purposes of a jury, to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. It proves, however, that the logic of the American trial-by-jury system does work.

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647 Words | 3 Pages

This was determined from way back when America was first being created. Originally the U.S was control by the British but one of the main reasons for our independences from them other than the fact that the U.S. did not like their high taxes but also was because the jurors and their rights. According to the video “Annenberg Classroom: Juries” when a judge did not like the juries verdicts they were fine and threatened to have their nose cut off. American wanted their judicial to be fair and equal for all. However, they are wrong in the fact that all citizens should need to serve on the jury because people will misuse this power and will not truly understand their effect on the case and more importantly the people live on trail.

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640 Words | 3 Pages

Regardless of the type of legal case, jurors who are presented jury nullification instructions are more likely to draw conclusions based upon their own conscience rather than consult legal policies during deliberation, which affects the resulting verdict. Conscious collective decisions are the most likely outcome, as jurors are granted the right to reject the law as they see fit. Due to this, the use of nullification instructions may continue to decline, as has occurred over the last century. (Smith, 1999)

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1139 Words | 5 Pages

No. 8: I think that the jury system we have today has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, a jury that consists of jurors who are biased could be manipulated by ‘outsiders’ through bribery or some jurors, as we have discussed before, might have some personal prejudices/beliefs that may affect their decision making. But there are some advantages as well because the decision that is made by the jury is thought out very carefully by a group of people. Interviewer: [gathers all his papers]

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886 Words | 4 Pages

Since the time of the ancient Romans, juries have been a way to solve criminal and civil decisions, but are they actually as fair and effective as we think they are? In today's world, juries are no longer an appropriate way to solve problems impartially in our modern society. I believe that the jury system in the United States is often biased and should be abolished due to its ineffectiveness. First, how is a jury chosen?

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1472 Words | 6 Pages

This essay will briefly discuss the role of the jury and how it works, from the principle behind it, to the method with which members are selected, and to the powers available to jurors. Moreover, it will outline advantages and disadvantages of trial by jury, and it will point out a couple of ways which could ameliorate this type of trial. Trial by jury has been a part of the criminal justice system since the 12th century (Davies, 2015), it is considered an ancient right and a symbol of liberty (Hostettler, 2004). It creates no precedent and it can decide challenging cases equitably without making bad law, it also brings members of the public into the administration of justice and into an understanding of legal and human rights (Hostettler,

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