At this point in our lives we’ve all probably had jury duty, in fact some of us have probably served on a jury. I was selected to serve on a jury the very first time I went to jury duty. I found the whole process very interesting. It’s definitely not as exciting as it appears on television and in movies. I don’t remember a lot of rules being discussed regarding the actual verdict. We sat through all of the testimonies. There was no evidence to present. Just one person’s word against the other. Then we all went back to the room and discussed our thoughts. Everyone felt that the defendant was not guilty except me. It was a very weird feeling. Once people made their points I started to come to their side, but I didn’t like the whole process. Why did we all have to agree? Why did we get to know what each one of us voted? I eventually concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict so I also agreed to a not guilty verdict in the end. I didn’t like the peer pressure that I felt in that situation or the fact that if we didn’t agree we would be considered a hung jury. The pressure that a jury must be unanimous for a verdict to be declared causes many mistrials that could otherwise be avoided saving everyone time and money. The Constitution states “[i]n all criminal cases the defendant has the right to be tried by a jury of 12 whose verdict must be unanimous.” In the federal court system, a jury must be unanimous, whether the case is civil or criminal; while in the state
The jury system has been used in the criminal trial since the Constitution stated “the trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury.”
Some of the hardest decisions on trial are made by the jury, which means the jurors have one of the most important roles when it comes to the trial, since they have to decide on another human’s fate, either. One decision a jury makes can be the difference between going to jail for life or being liberated. When O.J. Simpson was declared “not guilty” for the homicide of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and his friend, Ronald Lyle Goldman, by the Lance Ito, many argued that O.J. should have been proclaimed “Guilty”. Although many claim the verdict given was ideal, strong evidences, proves O.J. Simpson to be guilty for murdering 2 of his close acquaintances.
As the only foreigner in the group, and coming from where I did; I had no idea what being in a Jury was like. I even said “It is a remarkable thing about democracy. That we are notified by mail to come down to this place and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man we have not known before” I imagined it to be a fair and equal team where we all said our perspective and debate
This ensures that equality and fairness is shown throughout the case meaning that everyone has a fair trial. Fairness is shown by the jury through any jury members who know anything about the case being removed from the panel, any irrelevant information being disregarded (the Judges discretion) etc before the case has started. This fairness is also shown through any prejudice being flushed out through the unanimous decision needed to be made by the Jury panel. This means that all twelve jury members need to reach a verdict that agrees with all members. This is shown through the State vs Julian Knight case.
Juries are a crucial and irreplaceable part of the American justice system. The jury system has been around for hundreds of years. Our founding fathers viewed jury service as a critical part of democracy and self government. Twelve ordinary citizens make up the jury and will form a decision about the case. The jury system is still needed in the twenty-first century because it ensures the accused gets a fair trial and it promotes civic participation.
Civil Juries are one of the quintessential building blocks of American democracy. The law being put into the hands of the people is a monumental concept that gives Americans the choice to actively participate in their government. On paper, jury duty is an ideal way to have your voice heard and contribute to your community. In Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men, the reality of jury duty is shown. Nearly every juror is portrayed as impatient to get out of the courthouse to do anything other than jury duty.
Juries allow and force the public to have a personal knowledge of court proceedings, protect against the bias of a single person, and provide the public with certainty that there is not corruption in our judicial system. No human system of justice is perfect, but I believe that what Benjamin Franklin said regarding the Constitution also applies to our jury system, “It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does” (Benjamin Franklin to the Federal Convention).
Based on the United States Constitution, all citizens have the right to a “Trial by Jury,” which is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision in order to direct the actions of a judge. A jury pool is randomly selected first, and then the potential jurors are notified. After, “Voir Dire,” or jury selection, occurs where twelve people are chosen for jury duty.
Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.
The jury system and how it works is crucial to sentencing and how cases are solved. Most criminal trials require twelve jurors. The reason it’s done this way is because it’s believed that the more people there are exercising their own perception and judgement it leads to a greater chance of a fair
In a modernized society that highly values civil rights and equality, it is paramount for every citizen of a country to vote. Throughout history, people of minority and many others have fought for the notorious right to vote, and some even putting their lives on the line. Thus, a blessing of compulsory voting will not only give everybody an opportunity to voice how their country would like to be governed, but also presents a fair representation of what people want. One shouldn’t discount compulsory voting to pose a havoc on civil rights, it grants everyone that right regardless of citizenship and class. Countries should adopt compulsory voting, as countries will govern better and citizens would be happier as their country would be controlled by how they like.
Serving on a jury is a civic duty and an American tradition. However, some people view jury duty as a chore or as an event that negatively interrupts their lives. Some independent studies have shown that even jury duty has a devastating effect on married life. Due to this and other extraneous situations, there are only a few people who actually want to serve on a jury. This may lead to efforts by potential jurors to, in some way get out of their duty in a jury. What we know of as the current jury duty system should be changed so citizens are not forced to serve in this capacity and can still be regarded as a responsible civilian. As per the status quo, a trial jury is a constitutional right, a jury of ones peers or equals. However,
Currently in the world, there are a total of twenty-two countries where voting is mandatory. All though the most famous of them all is Australia, the majority of them are in South and Central America. Which includes our downstairs neighbor, Mexico. According to ThoughtCo, "Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform such as; taxation and compulsory education, or jury duty (ThoughtCo). Although the that statement could not be any clearer, encouraging but not forcing its citizens to participate is one of the distinctive characteristics of the United States. While it can get more people to vote, the state of Texas should not institutionalize compulsory voting because It is Unconstitutional and
Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.
This is with respect to criminal cases triable in the Supreme Court. This was discussed in The COP v Davis (1993). The case concerned an attempt to try and punish drug-related offences through the magistrates' courts, but using penalties similar to those found in the Supreme Court. The court found that this was an unconstitutional attempt to oust trial by jury. Trial by jury is also constitutionally protected in the USA.