Jury trials fade, and lawyers take up the case

An American Bar Association task force study to assess the implications of "the vanishing trial" on American democracy.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/9755151.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

snip>

Fewer than 2 percent of all cases in federal courts are heard by juries, and available statistics suggest that fewer than 1 percent of cases in state courts are resolved by jury trial.

snip>

The right to a jury trial in criminal and civil proceedings was built into the Bill of Rights by the Founding Fathers in 1791, but many lawyers question whether that basic American freedom is being eroded by disuse.

snip>

The terms of settlements almost always are kept secret, whereas jury verdicts are made public.

Many plaintiffs' attorneys see the civil trial, complete with public verdict, as a means of exposing corporate wrongdoing and forcing manufacturers to make reforms such as installing airbags in cars, back-up beepers on trucks and child-proof tops on medicine bottles.

"This is the great protector, the jury," said DeCaro. "If you get 12 people at something, there's probably something to it. And there are corrections that take place."

snip>