Jury Amendments

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On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln stood on the hallowed ground of the Gettysburg battlefield and began his historic address: “Four score and seven years ago….” He would speak for about as long as it will take us to present our prepared remarks to you today, and would conclude with this sacred challenge: “that we here highly resolve that…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” There is no greater example of government “of the people, by the people, for the people” than the right of trial by jury. The jury is a slice of The People—not mere representatives of The People, but literally The People—whose vital role was to be the ultimate finder of fact and of law. We agree that the right to …show more content…

Before government officials can force a defendant to suffer the physical and financial trial of a serious criminal prosecution, they must first win the consent of ordinary Americans from the community in a grand panel. Therefore the Fifth Amendment secured the role of the grand jury, which could thwart any prosecution that it deemed unfounded or malicious. The Fifth Amendment due-process clause concerned the jury even more directly, for its core meaning was that a criminal defendant could typically be brought to trial only by means of a lawful indictment or presentment by a grand …show more content…

This amendment codifies the right to a jury trial in certain civil cases, and inhibits courts from overturning a jury's findings of fact Antifederalist, due to their fear of a strong national government have always been in favor of juries. In one antifederalist pamphlet, they stated “Judges, unincumbered by juries, have been ever found much better friends to government than to the people.” Therefore, another leading antifederalist described jurors as “centinels and guardian” of “the people.” Thus limiting government. James Madison exclaimed, “the trial by jury, as one of the best securities to the rights of the people, ought to remain inviolate.” The grand jury is one limit on the strong central government that the antifederalist so frantically sought. The grand jury could foil any prosecution that they found malicious before it got to trial, especially if it suspected that the executive was trying to use the powers of incumbency illegitimately to entrench itself in office by prosecuting its political

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