The backbone of the
American civil justice system is the right to trial by a fair,
unbiased jury of one's peers. The constitutional right to trial
by jury has been hailed by our country's greatest minds, beginning
with the architects of our democracy who signed the Declaration
of Independence, and continuing throughout our Nation's history.
From Thomas Jefferson to the great jurist Learned Hand to contemporary
authors and intellectuals - since her birth, AmericaÕs patriarchs,
statesmen and scholars have spoken eloquently of the precious
right to a trial by jury.
The spirit
of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right...
the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and
women... the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its
own without bias...
U.S.
Court of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit
Learned Hand "Spirit of Liberty" Speech - May 21, 1944
Liberty
lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution,
no law, no court can save it... can even do much to help it...
U.S. Court
of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit
Learned Hand "Spirit of Liberty" Speech - May 21, 1944
The spirit
of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near 2,000 years ago, taught
mankind... that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be
heard and considered side by side with the greatest.
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit
Learned Hand "Spirit of Liberty" Speech - May 21, 1944
I'm no idealist
to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury
system - that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.
Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before
me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury
is only as sound as the men who make it up.
Harper Lee,
U.S. Author the character, Atticus Finch, in his speech to the
jury "To Kill A Mockingbird"
I know of
no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people
themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise
their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to
take it from them, but to inform their discretion.
Thomas Jefferson
"The
Court's only armor is the cloak of public trust; its sole ammunition,
the collective hopes of our society."
The
Honorable Irving R. Kaufman Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd
Circuit
"[The
jury is] one of the principles [that] form the bright constellation
which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age
of revolution and reformation."
Thomas
Jefferson in his first Inaugural Address - March 4, 1801
"You
will be the judges of fact. You are the sole and exclusive judges
of what the truth is. You will bring with you here your common
sense."
The
Honorable Russell R. Leggett Westchester County Court Judge (To
prospective jurors in the murder trial of Jean Harris - 1986)
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