NCJ Number
95017
Journal
Virginia Law Review Volume: 67 Dated: (1981) Pages: 887-1007
Date Published
1981
Length
121 pages
Annotation
In complex Federal civil cases, the use of special juries and expert nonjury tribunals offers some distinct advantages over the use of juries or the only alternative: the use of court trials.
Abstract
The special jury which would be drawn from persons meeting uniform educational standards, offers the hope that by modifying jury selection practices the widest possible use of juries might be maintained, as the ability of jurors to understand and decide difficult cases is improved. In contrast, the use of an expert nonjury tribunal would eliminate the jury in any form in certain cases, but might provide a greater hope for more fully informed, rational, and efficient decisionmaking. The possibilities of this approach stem from the United States Supreme Court's decision in Atlas Roofing Company v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The Atlas court held that Congress can assign the adjudication of new statutory public rights to an administrative agency and thereby avoid the requirement for jury trials that the seventh amendment might impose in other contexts. A total of 679 case notes are supplied.