A Right Older Than the Republic Itself
Trial by jury did not begin with the United States. It arrived here already centuries old, rooted in a 1215 charter forced on an English king, carried across the Atlantic as an expectation of English subjects, and named directly as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence. By the time the Constitution's framers sat down to write, jury trial was the one individual right they agreed on almost without debate.
Congress replaced the old "key man" jury-selection system, which had let local commissioners hand-pick jurors, with random selection from the community when it passed the Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968.
Sources & Further Reading
- U.S. Courts, Juror Qualifications
- U.S. Courts, Handbook for Trial Jurors Serving in the United States District Courts
- U.S. Courts, Jury Service
- Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Understanding the Federal Courts: Grand Juries
- National Archives, Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
- National Archives, The Bill of Rights: A Transcription
- Library of Congress, Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor
- Oyez / Justia, Hurtado v. California (1884)
- Oyez, Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)
- Oyez, Williams v. Florida (1970)
- Oyez, Taylor v. Louisiana (1975)
- Oyez, Ballew v. Georgia (1978)
- Oyez, Duren v. Missouri (1979)
- Oyez, Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
- Oyez, J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994)
- Oyez, Ramos v. Louisiana (2020)
- National Center for State Courts, State Court Jury Service
This page draws on the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' published guidance on jury service, juror qualifications, and grand jury procedure, the National Archives' transcriptions of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the Library of Congress's Magna Carta exhibit materials, the National Center for State Courts' research on state jury systems, and published Supreme Court opinions and Oyez / Justia case summaries for every case cited in the Legal Fights tab.