The jury trial finds expression in the American legal system in three places: the grand jury, the criminal petit jury, and civil petit jury. Each is guaranteed in the federal courts by the U.S. Constitution, and every state uses them.

"The Anglo-American jury is a remarkable political institution… It recruits twelve laymen, chosen at random from the widest population; it convenes them for the purpose of the particular trial; it entrusts them with great official powers of decision; it permits them to carry on deliberations in secret and to report out their final judgment without giving reasons for it; and after their momentary service to the state has been completed, it orders them to disband and return to private life…. The jury is thus by definition an exciting experience in the conduct of serious human affairs that, virtually from its inception, has been the subject of deep controversy" (Kalven and Zeisel, 1966, 3-4).

Criminal and civil juries reflect the differences between the criminal and civil law, and most cases in the United States are settled before they go to trial. In cases that go to trial, a person does not have the right to a jury trial in every instance. Finally, an accused person has the right to a trial by jury but may waive that right in favor of a bench trial before a judge; in civil trials, both parties can agree to a bench trial. Thus a jury trial generally takes place only in those instances where one side in a civil case, or the accused, in a criminal case, believes it is in their best interest. The right to trial by jury, however, influences even the resolution of cases that never go to trial, "like the visible cap of an iceberg, expos[ing] but a fraction of its true volume" (Kalven and Zeisel, 32).

LINKS TO RELEVANT SITES

Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution

5th Amendment to the United States Constitution [grand jury]

6th Amendment to the United States Constitution [criminal jury trial]

7th Amendment to the United States Constitution [civil jury trial]

Information for Trial Jurors Serving in the Federal Courts

The American Jury [Arizona Judicial Branch]

PRINT RESOURCES

Association of Trial Lawyers of America and Street Law, Inc. When Justice Is Up To You: Celebrating America's Guarantee of Trial by Jury(1992).

Constitutional Rights Foundation. We the Jury: A Simulation for the Classroom (1987).

Kalven, Harry, Jr., and Hans Zeisel. The American Jury (1966), pp. 1-32.

Landsman, Stephan. "The Civil Jury in America: Scenes from an Unappreciated History," 44 Hastings Law Journal 579 (1993), pp. 579-619.

Newsweek. The Jury System (1999).