Our Jury System

The United States and New Jersey Constitutions guarantee Defendant’s in criminal cases and litigants in civil cases the right to have their cases heard by a Jury of their peers. Now, more than ever, our Jury system is being challenged. More and more special interest groups are lobbying for changes in out Jury system.

Unfortunately, these attacks are usually knee-jerk reactions to some sort of crisis whether or not the crisis is real. Why are the proponents of limiting a jury’s function only concerned about the one area that affects their clients. If juries are out of control in civil cases, aren’t these same juries out of control in criminal cases. I didn’t hear these same proponents complaining about the number of guilty verdicts in criminal cases. I also never heard a word from the jury reformists throughout the mid 90′s when Jury awards were so defendant oriented that one insurer paid out more than 1 million dollars only five times in 1997. Where was the outcry for tort reform when the insurance companies were winning case after case.

Let’s face the truth here. Juries were not out of control. If they are giving out large awards, it’s because the case warrants it. To usurp their job with some dollar figure picked out of the air is not in the public’s best interest. Nor is limiting the public’s access to the Courthouse. Caps on awards will certainly control the average person’s ability to get redress from an alleged malpractice.