The Vanishing Jury Trial
Is it true that we all get our day in court?
Popular legal TV shows and movies paint the picture that we all get our day in court. We have the right to an impartial jury of our peers, who must be unanimous to convict.
Yet at the federal level, jury trials are going extinct. Only 2% of federal cases go to trial. The rest take plea deals.
Before you applaud this efficient use of government bureaucracy, consider this: If you are indicted at the federal level, what are the odds you are in the 2%?
The disappearance of jury trials brings problems:
First, proof beyond a reasonable doubt is no longer needed.
A federal prosecutor gets a whiff of a crime. They bring preliminary evidence before a grand jury. The grand jury is supposed to be the arbiter of whether an investigation is warranted. Now, it is a rubber stamp. It is estimated that 99.99% of federal grand juries return an indictment.
Once someone is federally indicted, there is a 98% chance they plead guilty and don’t go to trial. Maybe you believe that DOJ and FBI employees are 98% accurate and that is why 98% of criminal defendants are pleading guilty. Alternatively, at least some of those guilty pleas are obtained through government employees abusing their power through coercive tactics.
Second, the presumption of innocence no longer exists. At least 98% of federal indictments result in convictions. Because of the numbers, once you’re indicted, you can confidently be assumed to be guilty.
Third, it has eroded a constitutional safeguard our Founding Fathers established to protect us from government tyranny and oppression.
On July 11, 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote Thomas Paine:
“I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor, ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of it’s constitution.”
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution states:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law....” (emphasis added)
See this pamphlet prepared by the National Judicial College, for additional reasons why jury trials are important.
The near-elimination of jury trials at both the state and federal levels means that this protection against government oppression is gone.
The beloved television shows like Law & Order that convey to the public that jury trials are a feature of American life are now at best out of touch.