The Death Spiral of the American Jury Trial
The federal courts have released their annual report on the courts' caseload for 2006, with some pretty interesting results. The jury trial continues to disappear. Only 1.3 percent of all civil cases made it to a jury. In real numbers, it's a pretty stark portrait of the nation's jury system. Here in D.C. for instance, in fiscal 2006, there were only 20 federal civil trials. Just 20! The Southern District of New York, home to millions of people and untold amounts of commerce, didn't even break 100, with a mere 76 trials last year. For all the media coverage they generate, jury trials happen a lot more on TV than they do in real life.
That doesn't suprise me too much, considering that the current Jury system resembles playing Russian Roulette with an semi-automatic pistol.
Posted by: Jim Collins | March 30, 2007 at 03:53 PM