Jury trials, a critical part of democracy, are disappearing

Jury trials, a critical part of democracy, are disappearing

by Valerie P. Hans, Cornell University and Richard Lorren Jolly, Southwestern Law School, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] The right to trial by jury in criminal and civil cases is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It’s also a critically important way in which citizens can participate in democracy. The French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville observed early American juries at work. He noted in “Democra…