The Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution allows for a jury trial in civil cases where the dispute is worth over $20 USD. It aims to maintain a distinction between the roles of judges and juries, as in common law. This right is enforced at the federal level, but individuals can waive it, and state courts may not comply.
The Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution is a provision regarding when jury trial may be appropriate in civil cases. The text of the amendment is as follows:
“In common law trials, where the value of the dispute shall exceed twenty dollars, the right to jury trial shall be preserved, and no fact adjudicated by a jury shall be otherwise heard in any court of the United States than under the rules of the common law”.
The amendment states that any amount sought in a lawsuit of $20 United States Dollars (USD) or more would essentially allow individuals to assert the right to have their case heard in common law or in federally administered civil court by a jury of their equals. Of course, $20 USD was a great deal when the Bill of Rights was first established. Today you would be hard pressed to find anyone seeking a jury trial when suing for that amount.
The main point of the Seventh Amendment was to create a distinction between the work of a judge and that of a jury serving in federal civil court. Judges were there to instruct juries, to deliberate what evidence could be legally heard, and to advise juries on matters of law. The jury had to hear the facts for evidence, determine which ones were more weighted, and determine whether or not a filed lawsuit was feasible. The judging panels can also decide what amounts to award in most suits.
In civil courts and common law in England, upon which the Seventh Amendment is based, a judge’s responsibility should not include barraging the jury with opinions on the case or instructing jurors on how to govern. Both judge and jury had vital, separate and unobtrusive roles, and the system functioned more equally when these roles were maintained. The framers of the constitution sought the same distinction in American courts, resulting in the inclusion of the Seventh Amendment.
It should be noted that this right in the seventh amendment to have a civil trial heard by a jury is enforced at the federal level. State courts do not necessarily comply with this provision of the Seventh Amendment, although many do, unless the matter they are adjudicating falls within the province of federal law. People who bring a lawsuit do not have to have a jury trial. Individuals can waive their right to a jury trial if they choose, and other matters relating to the resolution of certain civil cases can be dealt with either through mediation or through negotiation and resolution before a case goes to trial.
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