THE AMERICAN JURY A presentation by The Texas

THE AMERICAN JURY A presentation by The Texas Chapters of The American Board of Trial Advocates

7 th Amendment

2 nd Amendment

�“Common sense calls for repeal of Second Amendment” � Seattle Times, April 30, 2014

�Professor Calvin Johnson, University of Texas at Austin, February 27, 2012: “The original meaning of the second amendment was to form a better militia. Under original meaning, guns fit into militias, and militias are subject to Presidential orders. Disobey the order and you can be shot. That is the real second amendment. The fake one allows high school adolescents to have easy access to the opportunity to work out their fantasies. That is bad originalism. ”

�“It’s time to repeal the Second Amendment. ” � -Mary Penrose, Full-time professor at Texas A&M Law School, November 2013.

Miracle at Philadelphia

Miracle at Philadelphia � The Right to a Jury Trial was taken as a given by the Framers of our Constitution, but there would have been no Constitution without the Agreement going in that the right to trial by jury would be enshrined in the Bill of Rights. � “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution. ” Thomas Jefferson, 1789 � “Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and clothed like swine and hounds. ” John Adams, 1774

The Right to a Jury �Out of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights: � 1 - States the BOR is not an exclusive list (9 th) � 1 - Reserves the power to the States (10 th) � 3 of the remaining 8 substantive amendments protect the right to a jury (5 th, 6 th, and 7 th).

Where Do We Start?

Crown v. William Penn

Crown v. John Peter Zenger

SEC v. Mark Cuban

Jury Protects Small Business

Three Reasons for Juries 1. Juries are the purest form of Democracy. 2. Juries provide local control. 3. Everyone is equal before a jury.

Where Have All the Jury Trials Gone? � 2002: � 2004: � 2006: � 2008: � 2010: � 2012: � 2014: � 2015: 2, 031 2, 055 1, 682 1, 346 969 1, 547 1, 380 1, 283

Federal Preemption Wrongdoers prefer Federal regulation to State Civil Litigation because regulators can be manipulated, coopted and controlled. Juries come to the process with a clean slate, not looking for a job in the very industry whose behavior they will be assessing.

Legislate Away Responsibility u u It takes enormous sums of money to run for office. Office holders can become beholden to tobacco companies, insurers and big pharma. The right to a jury trial means little if the laws take away the duties owed by those who harm others to respond in damages.

Appellate Courts More and more, Appellate Courts feel empowered to replace their own opinions for those of the jury. The juries are supposed to be the ultimate finders of fact while the Courts apply the law. Appellate Courts look for more and more creative ways to make factual and legal determinations to protect corporate defendants.

Mandatory Arbitration More and more, corporations, banks, credit card companies, cell phone providers, stock brokers and even nursing homes and cereal salesman attempt to coerce consumers into mandatory arbitration where they are required to surrender their 7 th Amendment Constitutional Rights as American Citizens.

Juries Protect Fundamental Rights

What Can You Do? �Be an informed voter �Vote �Attend Jury Service �Explain how juries protect fundamental rights

Jury Duty is for All Americans

The American Jury