Jury Trials are unsuccessful due to their Expensive and Time Consuming Nature.. Do you Agree?

Question

I am doing a uni assignment, and argument essay on jury trials, my thesis is that they are a hindrance to justice.

This is my first argument - refer to question.

if you agree, then why what basis on?

if not then why?

Answer 1

Juries wield a vital power the Founders left in the hands of the people.

That power is often used to tell the government to stick it where the sun don't shine.

The power in the courtroom resides not in the law, the judge, the prosecutor, the state or the federal government but with the people, in the form of the jury.

If a jury determines the law upon which the trial is based is uncontitutional, they can acquit.

If a jury determines a defendent was railroaded, they can acquit.

Defending the Constitution from government is never too expensive nor time consuming that it ought not be done.

"I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the priciples of it's Constitution."  Thomas Jefferson

"It is not only his right, but his duty...to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court."  John Adams

"If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence ... and the courts must abide by that decision."

US v Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006

Jury Nullification. — Jury nullification occurs when a jury

votes to acquit a defendant despite the fact that the defendant is guilty

under the letter of the law. A jury may opt to nullify because it believes

the law is generally unfair or unjust, because it believes applying

the law in the particular case would be unfair or unjust, or because it

believes the punishment is too harsh. The jury’s power to nullify

stems from the fact that it does not need to give a reason for its decision and its vote of acquittal is unreviewable.

http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/1...

Answer 2

No, everyone deserves the right to a trial by thier peers.

What I don't like is peoples unwillingness to participate in the process. Everyone should be proud and willing to show up for jury duty.

Answer 3

i belive that that the cost is inconvint but it is a right gaurenteed in the constitution of the usa and is a semi-effective way of prossicuting criminlas and avioding false prossicution when the law enforcement dose its job correctly  

Answer 4

Without a jury trial, you  may draw a judge who just doesn't like your looks and you are screwed.