Okay, who out there has the mighty Seventh Amendment down
pat? Anyone?
In
suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a
jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than
according to the rules of the common law.
As the Constitution was being formulated, Mr. Williamson
from North Carolina raised the issue of civil trials.[i] Although his proposal was not addressed in
the core of the Constitution a number of representatives voiced concern about
how to address the issue with language that would be acceptable to the several
states. Thus, we come to the Seventh
Amendment.
This is another carry over of English common law and throughout
our history the courts and the Congress have tinkered with the actual rules
governing the implementation. We started
out with the requirement for 12 good men who had to agree unanimously, and have
now come down to six men or women who must reach a majority opinion.
This amendment applies to courts under the jurisdiction of
the federal government and does not necessarily control the composition of the
state court trials.
And as we see daily on reality TV the litigants can waive
their rights and agree to a trial by a judge.
Personally, I think we should also consider trial by combat
as a TV option.
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