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1 1 (December 22, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejwz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional_______ R.fesearch Service The Right to a Jury Trial in Civil Cases Part 1: Introduction and Historical Background December 22, 2022 This Legal Sidebar is the first in a five-part series that discusses a unique feature of the American legal system-the constitutional right to a jury trial in federal civil cases at law. During the Constitution's ratification, the Anti-Federalist, known by the pseudonym the Federal Farmer, argued that the Constitution should expressly provide a right to civil jury trials because the well born, who would comprise the judiciary, are generally disposed, and very naturally too, to favour those of their own description. Included as part of the Bill of Rights, the right to civil jury trials, according to a 2020 study, is seen by many judges, as well as plaintiff and defense attorneys, as providing a fairer way to resolve lawsuits than bench trials or arbitration. The use of jury trials to resolve civil cases, however, decreased from 5.5% in 1962 to less than 1% in 2013, with some attributing this to damage caps and mandatory binding arbitration. Members of Congress interested in civil litigation or federal court operations may find the constitutional right to jury trials in civil cases of interest. (For additional background on this topic and citations to relevant sources, see the Constitution of the United States ofAmerica, Analysis and Interpretation.) The Seventh Amendment guarantees a jury trial in civil cases seeking monetary damages in federal court and limits the circumstances under which courts may overturn a jury's findings of fact. The Seventh Amendment provides as follows: 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 re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Although the right to a jury trial in civil cases at law is rooted in English common law and was important during the colonial era, it initially was omitted from the Constitution. The First Congress, however, ultimately adopted the right as one of the Bill of Rights, which became effective in 1791. Since then, the Supreme Court has interpreted the phrase Suits at common law under the Seventh Amendment as preserving the right of trial by jury in civil cases as it existed under the English common law when the amendment was adopted. This means that the Seventh Amendment does not guarantee a trial by jury in cases under admiralty and maritime law and in other proceedings historically tried by a court instead of a jury, nor does it reach statutory proceedings unknown to the common law concerning the enforcement of statutory public rights created by Congress. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10883 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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