Answer by George Somaru for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
The Jury is the last defense against bad laws – like those that violate the Constitution – so juries can acquit if they feel the defendant has been unjustly accused even if the statute is a law but...
View ArticleAnswer by Michael Becker for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
I have had the same question myself, because to me it makes no logical sense to have a group of 12 folks decide matters of law when the judge is most obviously the expert. After researching this, I...
View ArticleAnswer by David Siegel for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
When the jury first began to be used in trials of criminals in England, back in the late 1100s, jury members were people from their local area who were supposed to know, either personally or by "common...
View ArticleAnswer by supercat for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
Many laws refer to the concept of a "reasonable" person. For example, someone is negligent if they do something a reasonable person would not have done, or fail to do something a reasonable person...
View ArticleAnswer by Dale M for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
Because it's explicitly a jury of your peersThat is, every person is entitled to have their guilt or innocence decided by people "like them" - not kings, lords or, heaven forbid, lawyers. In fact, if...
View ArticleAnswer by Trish for Why are common people selected for jury duty?
Because that is the goal in common law!The US jury system is based on picking a group of "randoms" from the street that form a jury of their peers of the accused - That is what the US constitution...
View ArticleWhy are common people selected for jury duty?
Why are common people selected to be the jury in the USA? Shouldn't people that know the law to decide criminal's fate? Why pick just some twelve random people to be the jury and decide the outcome of...
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