Justinian Lane

Which should we protect, the Bill of Rights or dollar bills?

Today at Overlawyered, Ted attacked one of Lee’s posts and ended his attack with this passage:

“That the trial bar fights so hard against even so much as establishing such courts on an pilot basis shows how much they really care about “medical errors” as opposed to their own pockets.”

The courts Ted is referring to are theoretical “medical courts” in which juries would be replaced by a judge who is also a medical expert. Ted’s post is unclear as to whether he himself supports the creation of medical courts, or whether he is merely condemning trial lawyers for opposing them.

My response to Ted was that maybe trial lawyers fight so hard against medical courts because they care about the Constituion and the Bill of Rights. Since you probably haven’t memorized it, here’s what the 7th Amendment says:

“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”

Despite their shortcomings, I believe our founding fathers were some of the greatest men who ever lived. Through sweat and sacrifice, they founded the greatest country in the world. And they believed that the right for a plaintiff to seek a jury trial was so important as to be enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Similar passages can be found in various state constitutions. Here are three examples:

Arkansas: The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and shall extend to all cases at law, without regard to the amount in controversy; but a jury trial may be waived by the parties in allcases, in the manner prescribed by law.

North Dakota: The right of trial by jury shall be secured to all, and remain inviolate; but a jury in civil cases, in courts not of record may consist of less than twelve men, as may be prescribed by law.

Nevada: The right of trial by Jury shall be secured to all and remain inviolate forever;

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the noble men and women who have died and are dying to protect our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. I have nothing but derision for the ignominious men and women who are dying to butcher those documents for corporate gain.

There are flaws in our civil justice system. I admit that. But I deny that the way to fix those flaws is to hack and slash at the Bill of Rights. No matter how profitable doing so may be.

Posted at 8:18 PM, Jan 04, 2007 in Civil Justice | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)