NCJ Number
117160
Journal
Kentucky Law Journal Volume: 76 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987-88) Pages: 81-165
Date Published
1988
Length
85 pages
Annotation
Prior models of the civil-jury-trial right describe and circumscribe a role for the civil jury without giving adequate consideration to the dynamics of a judge/jury system or without giving a convincing justification for power allocation within that system. This article develops a model that remedies these shortcomings.
Abstract
Traditional models describing the civil jury's role rest primarily upon historical, legal, and political grounds. Historical models define the jury's role under the seventh amendment's mandate to follow common law practices. Legal models focus on the law/fact distinction and limit the jury's role to consideration of those matters defined as factual. Political models emphasize the democratizing influence of juries in an otherwise antimajoritarian judicial system and describe the necessity of jury participation. Although each of these models explains some aspect of the jury's role, none of them systematically explores the limits of what that role is or should be. Thus, they are not useful in describing what and when jury control devices are appropriate. The proposed model provides a basis for making such decisions. The model is dependent upon a functional analysis of the respective roles of the judge and the jury. Jury control devices are assessed in relation to this new functional model, supporting the thesis that the tension between the jury-trial right and jury-control devices is a consequence of the failure of traditional models to clarify the appropriate allocation of decisionmaking between judge and jury. 489 footnotes.