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The seventh amendment was created in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights to preserve a citizen’s right to trial by jury and to keep the case from being reexamined in court. This amendment extends the right to a jury trial to federal civil cases such as car accidents, corporation disputes, and employment disputes when the lawsuit exceeds twenty dollars.
This amendment played a large part in gaining independence during the revolutionary war. American juries were used to nullify laws from Britain, especially ones pertaining to unfair taxing. Trials by jury have proved to be important after the war in protecting citizens from biased judges and government abuse of power. Once the jury has come to a conclusion, the case cannot be reexamined in court. The importance of juries led to Americans making civil jury trials a right for all citizens. Despite this amendment, juries only decide less than one percent of civil cases filed in court. In the 1930s, courts preferred judges and gave them more power, therefore decreasing the popularity of juries.
To exercise this right, the claim must be civil rather than a criminal claim, meaning that money for damages is seeked. It must be based on federal law, or in federal court, not state. The lawsuit must be over 20 dollars. As mentioned twice in the amendment, the lawsuit must also be a claim to which the English common law of 1791 would have also allowed a jury. Common law deals with monetary payment being sought for loss, as opposed to equity law where the issue is fixed by imposing court orders. The most uncertain part of the seventh amendment is what exactly “common law” means. In the United States, common law is law declared by judges, but in 1791 it meant the law and procedure of the courts that used juries.
While the rules around the common law are strict, some Supreme Court cases, for example Colgrove v. Battin in 1973, demonstrated how substance comes before procedures. This court case allows the jury of civil cases to consist of six people instead of twelve. In the case Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television in 1998, the court denied Feltner’s request for trial by jury because this amendment does not provide this right on statutory damage. Later, it was decided that the seventh amendment does extend the right to trial by jury for copyright disputes.
This is not the case for patent claims, as shown in the Markman v. Westview Instruments case two years prior, where it was decided that judges, not juries, should find the acquired meaning of patent terms. The seventh amendment deals with the protection of individual rights and keeps the government from getting too involved in the judicial process, similarly to John Locke’s ideas that a judge should be unbiased. When judges are unreliable, trial by jury is the answer. This is one of the most straightforward amendments, and there is not much that can be done to make it any clearer.
