vii-amendment

Matilda Beyer History Showcase Seventh Amendment

Video

Written Component

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.

The VI & VII Amendments

Video

Written Component

The 6th and 7th Amendments are criminal amendments alongside the 5th and 14th Amendments. There were two main reasons why the Sixth Amendment and Seventh Amendment were created. Firstly, these amendments responded to and strengthened previous British criminal prosecutions where only magistrates and judges would collect evidence and ask questions. Second, it was influenced by the enforcement of the sugar acts, where the British  sent colonials to Vice-Admiralty courts outside the colonies, without juries, and no representation. The Sixth responds to these concerns, creating a court framework so that criminal prosecutions would consist of a jury of peers to eliminate bias and guarantees the accused rights to a speedy, impartial, public trial. Now, the Sixth Amendment is more commonly understood to guarantee the accused rights to an attorney, no matter the cost.

However, this only existed after the Gideon vs. Wainwright court case, where Gideon, denied the right to an attorney after being convicted of a break-in, appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights were violated. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor, and now the right to an attorney is explicitly and widely known to be incorporated within the Sixth Amendment. There are several other occurrences where the Sixth protected the accused’s rights after their right to a speedy trial was violated. For example, Zedner vs. United States is a criminal case where the district court judge convinced JACOB Zedner to waive his right to a speedy trial.

Zedner, four years later, appealed to the Supreme Court, stating that waiving his rights violated his rights under the Sixth Amendment. In the end, all judges ruled in his favor. The Sixth, as demonstrated, is an essential part of the Amendments that protect the rights of the accused and creates a fairer and more impartial criminal prosecution system.

The Seventh Amendment states that both parties have the right to a jury on civil cases that exceed twenty dollars. The second clause of the Seventh states a similar case to the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy. Civil cases will not be re-examined unless according to the standard law rules. Recently, however, the decision to use civil juries has been declining partly because of many negative downsides, including the fact that people are less willing to pay lawyer fees for a jury, jury trials for civil cases are generally more time-consuming for all parties, and State governments can modify the threshold(money needed)until the use of juries in civil cases are allowed.

Since the Seventh Amendment was created to serve as a means of representation, the original purpose of the Seventh Amendment to represent the American people may seem outdated. However, it still must be understood that both the 6th and 7th Amendments are significant to protect and ensure the rights of the accused. Otherwise, accused people would not have rights and face extreme bias and conviction rates within court systems.