The Decline of Jury Trials

 

It is argued that the right to a jury trial is one of the most important rights a criminal defendant may have in the U.S. Constitution. Nonetheless, jury trials are vastly disappearing in U.S. courtrooms for multiple reasons as cases hardly make it to trial these days. Researchers who have studied this issue offer many different possible explanations for the decline in civil and criminal jury trials.  

One study showed that “a trial [today] is very much the exception, rather than the rule,” regardless of jurisdiction, criminal or civil, bench or jury, or type of claim. It refers to jury trials being on the “endangered list” as Supreme Court decisions have made case disposition by motion more likely. This is a more attractive alternative for defendants, because it is more readily available and less expensive. 

 

On the other hand, it found criminal defendants are more likely to proceed to jury trial than civil defendants. In federal courts, there are more jury trials than bench trials, but the opposite is true in many state courts. In both federal and state courts, tort claims are more likely to go to trial than contract claims.

 

Another study’s research focused on factors relating to the “disappearing jury trial,” such as mandatory minimum sentences, damage caps and mandatory arbitration, and the consequences of it disappearing in the legal system. Almost all defense attorneys and fifty percent of judges that were surveyed claimed that mandatory minimum laws had a significant role in the decrease of jury trials for criminal cases, because they incentivize plea deals that defendants will take and forego their right to a trial. 98% of criminal convictions in federal courts ended in guilty pleas the year before COVID. Damage caps and mandatory arbitration was a big factor in civil cases, because they either incentivize plaintiffs to settle or not pursue them at all. Additionally, binding arbitration clauses in contracts have made it more difficult to pursue these civil trials. 

 

Between 1962 and 2013, the percentage of civil cases resolved through jury trials fell from 5.5% to 0.8%. The use of jury trials in federal criminal cases fell from 8.2% to 3.6% over this same time frame.

 

However, jury trials are still seen as one of the fairest methods for handling cases despite the time and expense. Many judges and attorneys surveyed from both sides of a case believe that juries are worth the time and cost. Therefore, many researches have suggested different policy changes including eliminating or raising the level of damage caps, ending mandatory arbitration, and reforming sentencing guidelines.

 

Ultimately, it will not be easy to make any of these reformations nor do some people want to make these changes in the legal system. Consequently, it seems like jury trials will remain on the “endangered list” for more years to come.