The Forgotten Seventh Amendment

Most people remember something from school about the Bill of Rights. Most are equally familiar with at least the concepts detailed in the First Amendment and in the Second Amendment. Others may recall that the Fourth Amendment has something to do with searches and seizures and that the Fifth Amendment has something to do with not being forced to testify against yourself. But what about the other constitutional amendments? Few of us could answer many questions about the Seventh Amendment. Does it prohibit the government from giving a loan to a corporation or did I just make that up?

The Seventh Amendment states in civil lawsuits, where the claim being disputed is over $20, either side can request a jury trial. There are, however, limits on this right. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a jury trial as it existed in 1791, as such, it may not apply to newer types of lawsuits. When President Truman signed the legislation adopting the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) in 1946, it contained a requirement that any case that makes it to trial must be tried only to a federal judge and not to a jury. This remains the law today.

The FTCA is the primary vehicle for filing a claim and then a lawsuit The Forgotten Seventh Amendment Do jury trials apply to civil lawsuits? By Judge Gerald A. Williams against the federal government for the negligent actions of a federal employee. Unless Congress changes the law, the Seventh Amendment’s right to a jury trial does not apply to these types of cases.

The federal government gets to make the rules concerning FTCA cases based on a legal principal known as sovereign immunity. The doctrine of sovereign immunity states that a government can only be sued to the extent that it has agreed to be sued. Only the legislative branch can formalize this type of consent. This concept is based on British common law and a belief that a king or queen cannot be subject to lawsuits because as a sovereign they could do no wrong. In our modern society, civil jury trials are increasingly rare. Some of the reasons for this involve the explosion of Alternative Dispute Resolution. The trend is to resolve disputes without going to a courthouse. Most consumer contracts require people to waive their rights to judicial adjudication and to go to arbitration instead. Lawsuits, perhaps especially jury trials, can also be very expensive.

As a judge, I receive approximately 520 cases each month that would be eligible for a civil jury trial. While I obviously do not want each of them to be resolved by a jury trial, I am concerned that we have not had a civil jury trial in my court in a few years.

Voting and serving on a jury are the two most likely ways for an average citizen to be called on to participate in our government. Jury trials perform an important function and can keep problems that need to be exposed in a public courtroom from being hidden through nondisclosure agreements. Probably nobody spends much time pondering the significance of the Seventh Amendment; but perhaps we should.

Judge Gerald A. Williams is the Justice of the Peace for the North Valley Justice Court. The court’s jurisdiction includes Anthem and Desert Hills.

Justice Court Jury Trials Justice courts do not have people coming to a courthouse every day in case they are needed for a jury trial. We follow a jury trial on demand system and only request potential jury members if the judge believes a jury trial will actually occur.

For civil and criminal jury trials, justice courts in Maricopa County depend on the Superior Court Jury Office to send out jury summons to potential jury members. More information is available at superiorcourt. maricopa.gov/jury.

This system requires advance notice for everyone involved. Justice Court Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 133(b) requires that a party request a trial by jury at least 10 days before the scheduled trial date. However, if you want a jury trial, you should request one much sooner and no later than at the time of the pre-trial conference. If you wait until 10 days before trial, the case may be delayed and the judge may become frustrated.