By a Jury of his Peers
By Bob Small
According to 1215 Magna Carta – Clause 39, “No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any other way ruined, nor will we go against him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers”.
However, there is now a dissenting view Magna Carta and Trial by Jury.
In England, recently, there has been a significant backlog of cases, about 80,000 , with many trials being listed far into the future.
Potential problem areas include whether defendants are being judged by a “representative cross-section of society”, concentration of decisions in a single individual, and that “this may not significantly reduce delays”, rather than addressing “funding, staffing, and court capacity”.
There is a plan to scrap jury trials in England and Wales
Unless the expected prison sentence is more than five years, defendants would not be allowed to ask for a jury trial. Mike Evans, President of the Law Society of England and Wales, called the proposals “extreme”.
“This is a fundamental change to how our criminal justice system operates, and it goes too far,” he said.
There were 78,000 cases pending currently, as compared to 38,000 at the end of 2019.
Another possible negative effect, would be for women who were victims of violence.
Labor MP Natalie Fleet, said , “You know what’s worse than being raped? Facing years of waiting to see if people believe you.” Academic Kitty Lymperopoulou advocated for jury trials, saying “Conversely, the involvement of 12 randomly selected people brings a wider range of lived experiences, insights and perspectives .”
For a dissenting view there’s this Birmingham, England woman who says in a caveat, “Just because we have done something for hundreds of years is not reason enough alone to keep doing it.”
Because U.S. Constitution – Article III | Resources | Library of Congress, U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment | Library of Congress and U.S. Constitution – Seventh Amendment | Library of Congress all guarantee our rights to Jury trials, this seems safe here. Unless we fear Prince Shapiro changing this in Pennsylvania.
See also The Ox-Bow Incident
Both with the indefatigable Henry Fonda.
