Preserve the Civil Jury Trial

More and more, the civil jury trial is coming under attack.  Corporations, nursing homes, and physicians are, essentially, doing all that they can to divert controversies into Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, such as arbitrations and the like.  Even in our property insurance disputes (sinkhole claims, hurricane damage), most insurance companies are looking to appraisal or other forums.  In essence, these companies are doing all that they possibly can to avoid a circumstance in which average citizens are determining the facts, and passing judgment on the damages that should be awarded in a particular case.  I can’t help but believe that the framers of our Constitution would be rolling over in their graves if they could view the attack that is taking place on the historical safeguards that they so carefully inserted into the United States Constitution.

Right of Trial by Jury

The Seventh Amendment to the Constitution makes clear that: “In Suits at common law, where the value of 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 common law.”  It seems pretty evident, to this author, that the framers of the Constitution meant what they said: “the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.”  This right grew, historically, from the Magna Carta, based upon the lack of faith in the executive branch of the Old English government, which was, in essence, controlled by the kings and lords.    Later, in 1774, a diminution in faith in the legislative branch of the English government, the Parliament, infuriated the American colonists, prompting the First Continental Congress to enact a resolution that stated as follows: “Resolved that the respective colonies are entitled to the common law of England and more especially to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers in vicinage according the course of that law.”  During the construction of our Constitution, although it was not included in the body of the document, Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the greatest constitutional proponent of our country’s brief history, considered that trial by jury was “the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”  Thus, the concept of trial by jury, now being eroded, is fundamentally ingrained in our American constitutional system.

Wisdom of the Court

Years ago, I argued, before the Florida Supreme Court, on behalf of a company trying to force a wrongful death case to arbitration, that the lower appellate court should be upheld based upon well recognized legal principals in favor of arbitration.  Fortunately, the Supreme Court, in a bold and somewhat unprecedented move, altered the course of this national trend, and ruled that the plaintiff in the case was entitled to a jury trial on the traditional claim that was meant to be brought before a jury.  Although, obviously, I was displeased with the Supreme Court’s decision at the time (fortunately for my client, I had already settled the case before the Supreme Court ruled), since then, I have seen the wisdom and the courage of the Court’s ruling.  Any opportunity to impinge upon this fundamentally held concept upon which our country was created should be resisted, and the right to trial by jury should be vigorously preserved and defended. If you have a situation requiring legal representation get your no-obligation, free case evaluation or contact Corless Zinober, Florida Trial Lawyers, at 866-969-2889.