Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: Greatest Closing Arguments in Modern Law

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Anyone who's ever watched Perry Mason knows that the closing argument is a very important part of a big legal case. The closing argument is the "game point" of law, the time when lawyers pull out all the stops on the cajoling and the litigating. Michael S. Lief and his coauthors have collected the closing arguments from 10 noteworthy cases in this volume, introducing each speech with background information on the trial and commentary on the lawyer's technique. In these pages, readers get front-row seats to some of the most riveting trials in this century, including the Charles Manson murder trial, Karen Silkwood's wrongful-death suit, and the trial of the Chicago Seven.

Because the authors chose to include all the courtroom interruptions in the transcript, the Manson summation makes for especially lively reading. Manson and his codefendants repeatedly spoke out of turn during prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's statement, saying things like "You are going to be eaten up by your own lie" and "Even if I have never been in the Gotham Bank!" Bugliosi's speech is among the most eloquent in the collection, which is why it is so stunning when one of the defendants provokes him so much that he loses his cool and calls her a name that rhymes with rich.

Although the title promises the "greatest closing arguments in modern law," some of the speeches seem to have been chosen because they were connected to important cases rather than because of their own rhetorical merits. However, the cases themselves are interesting, and these transcripts bring them to life better than any summary would. This collection should be of interest to anyone in the legal profession. --Jill Marquis

Book Description

Clarence Darrow saves Leopold and Loeb from the gallows in the Roaring Twenties. Gerry Spence takes on the nuclear power industry for the death of Karen Silkwood in a modern-day David and Goliath struggle. Vincent Bugliosi squares off against the madness of Charles Manson and his murderous "family" in the aftermath of their bloody spree. Clara Foltz, the first woman to practice law in California, argues passionately to an all-male jury, defending her place in the courtroom. Bobby DeLaughter brings the killer of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice after thirty years and two mistrials. Aubrey Daniel brings Lt. William Calley, Jr., to justice for the My Lai massacre. William Kunstler challenges the establishment after the '68 Chicago riots in his defense of yippie leaders known as the Chicago Seven.

Each closing argument is put into context by the authors, who provide historical background, a brief biography of each attorney, and commentary, pointing out the trial tactics used to great effect by the lawyers, all in language that is jargon-free for the benefit of the lay reader.

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Until now, only the twelve jurors who sat in judgment were able to appreciate these virtuoso performances, where weeks of testimony were boiled down and presented with flair, wit, and high drama. For five years the authors researched every archive from those of the L.A. Times to the dusty stacks of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and readers can now lose themselves in the summations of America's finest litigators. Clarence Darrow saves Leopold and Loeb from the gallows in the Roaring Twenties. Gerry Spence takes on the nuclear power industry for the death of Karen Silkwood in a modern-day David and Goliath struggle. Vincent Bugliosi squares off against the madness of Charles Manson and his murderous "family" in the aftermath of their bloody spree. Clara Foltz, the first woman to practice law in California, argues passionately to an all-male jury, defending her place in the courtroom. Bobby DeLaughter brings the killer of civil-rights leader Medgar Evers to justice after thirty years and two mistrials. Aubrey Daniel brings Lt. William Calley, Jr., to justice for the My Lai massacre. William Kunstler challenges the establishment after the '68 Chicago riots in his defense of yippie leaders known as the Chicago Seven. Each closing argument is put into context by the authors, who provide historical background, a brief biography of each attorney, and commentary, pointing out the trial tactics used to great effect by the lawyers, all in language that is jargon-free for the benefit of the lay reader.

Customer Reviews:

Celebrity cases, mostly of the left - certainly not the "greatest.".......2006-06-10

The authors claim that these "greatest closing arguments in modern law" were chosen for the "quality of [their] summation, as well as for [their] historical significance." The immediate question is who is judging the quality of the summation and, more importantly, their historical significance?

The view here is obviously that left-wing causes have the most historical significance, though some cases, such as Nuremburg, are politically neutral. Clarence Darrow's summation in behalf of two young men who brutally murdered another is an argument against the death penalty. Many would consider the resulting verdict an injustice, compounded by early release of one of the murderers. Also, the fact that the case was argued in a Cook County, Illinois courtroom, one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in the nation, casts the power of this closing argument into doubt since the parents of the murderers were wealthy and in Cook County, money has always spoken loudly even when passed in silence from one hand to another.

Gerry Spence is without a doubt one of the most eloquent and effective litigators in the nation. But the science his Silkwood argument rests upon is, to some, suspect as were the alleged facts.

The closing arguments are presented with a wrapping of context, though it is a bit on the light side. With that in mind, the closing defense argument in the John DeLorean case is truly great, cataloging a series of government misdeeds. But the reader searching for political balance may be troubled by equally meritorious closing arguments in the Rosenberg and Alger Hiss cases.

Vincent Bugliosi's closing in the case against Manson and his followers is competent, but isn't great. It is a narrative that virtually any competent prosecutor could have put together. The Manson case involved celebrities, but otherwise wasn't much different than many murder cases of the same nature: groups of people motivated to murder. Johnny Cochran's closing in the O. J. Simpson case was far more powerful, in my opinion, far outclassing Bugliosi in persuasiveness.

The inclusion of Robert Jackson's closing at Nuremberg is puzzling. It was not an American trial. The guilt of the accused was beyond doubt, though law underpinning the tribunal was not. From the commentary, I derived the feeling that the authors were trying to rescue Jackson's reputation from his disastrous cross examination of Hermann Goering.

William Kunstler, in the opinion of many, was a living insult to the practice of law. The authors describe his closing in the Chicago Seven case as a "four-part clinic in how to excel in persuasive argument." Others might see it and Kunstler's behavior in a circus presentation of how to flout the law. All of Kunstler's clients were convicted: so much for the persuasiveness of his argument. The convictions were overturned owing to the trial judge's behavior. Again, this was in Cook County, Illinois where for many years both the state and federal judiciaries were of abysmal quality, products for the most part of the Democratic political machine. (Many of the "murderers" convicted under the current Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley, had their convictions overturned because DNA testing became available. At least one Cook County judge accepted bribes to free a murderer. Great place.)

The authors note that it is probably "terribly presumptuous" of them to choose the ten greatest arguments - and they are correct. They admit to choosing only "noteworthy" trials . . . and it is there that they blinded themselves to a far wider range of great closing arguments.

All the arguments are interesting and all the lawyers who made them were clearly eloquent, so more so than others. But to call these ten the greatest in modern law? I think not.

Jerry

If your idealism is waning, this book will help you find it!.......2005-02-16

After years of arguing caseslaw, motions, picking juries, interviewing witnesses, going through all the day to day protocol that trial work demands, one may forget at times how important is the job of a lawyer. But this book reminds the practioner that he/she is a part of a wonderful system of justice. Not many cases will go down as "The Greatest" but to your clients, it is often the defining moment of their lives. And this book helps you reconnect to the reasons why you sought a lifetime devoted to the noblest of professions.
Reading about the great lawyers of in our history is humbling and worthwhile. Reflection is helpful as you try to regain a little lost idealism. And if you are a new lawyer and have all of you ideals from law school still in tact, reading this book will help you realize how important it is to never lose them. Great book for lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

A worthwhile read for a trial attorney.......2004-08-20

If only for Spence's closing in the Silkwood case, this book is worth every penny. A real thing of subtle and effective beauty, that closing contains so many incredible and useful techniques, it's just plain stunning. The subtle allignment of Spence to the jurors in groups in which Spence and the jurors can work together are wonderful and powerful -- Spence places himself and the jurors by turns in a self built retirement community, and in the class of local state citizens all the while emphasizing that the cause of the need for retirement and the genesis of Spence's new found home state membership is the defense's prolongation of trial -- wonderful. The rhyming "if the lion gets away, Kerr McGee must pay" is hard-to-forget and masterfully so. The analysis that proceeds each transcript is useful and informative. Buy it if you can.

Legal History.......2001-02-19

Describing or reading a speech is like describing color. I guess you can do it, but nothing is the same as being there and listening and experience a great speech. There is a poetry to the delivery which is missing from a dry read. Yet, if you want to read some of the great closes from the past, this is a good place to start.

This books picks 10 closing arguements which the authors state are the greatest of history. Whenever you have such a book, of course, people will differ on which closes should be included. By necessity, for mass appeal, oftentimes "famous" speeches, which may not be so great will be included while less famous speeches, which were much better, will not be the cut. I thought the ones chosen, overall, were very good.

Personally I liked the ones I read. My favorite was Clarance Darrow's close in the Leopald and Loeb case. It was great because it was effective. Everyone in this case knew they were guilty and wanted them to die. How did Clarence Darrow change the judges mind? It was in his words and his delivery. This was an effective speech.

There are others here which I also found very good. We hear the closing speech from the Nuremberg trials (which I would not have included because I think the win was almost preordained), the close in the Karen Silkwood civil case, the DeLorean defense close and six others. This is a good book and a good read. I would recommend it most to history fans, but I think some of the general public would also enjoy it.

Spellbinding.......2000-12-30

Ladies and Gentlemen... kills two birds with one stone by providing an eduactional and intruiging experience. You will hit your curiousity spot by learning what the landmark trials of the United States were all about, and you will also get locked into some of the most persuasive literature I have ever seen.

While those who are interested in the legal field are virtually guaranteed to be interested in reading Ladies and Gentlemen..., you don't need to be anything close to a lawyer to appreciate this. This anthology of closing arguments teaches the reader how to connect/communicate with others. After reading a series of closing arguments, I learned different strategies to use to relate to a group of people to get my point across (in this case, a jury). This book is great to any businessman, negotiator, or even those who want to improve their basic social, everyday, oral skills.

I just bought this book for ten of my friends for the past holiday season, and I got star reports from all of them. I recommend this innovative book to all types of readers.

Book Description

"A thought-provoking book on how accurately criminal law and tis application reflect our sense of justice...an excellent text."
—Barry N. Sweet, The Law and Politics Book Review

A police trooper inspects a car during a routine traffic stop and finds a vast cache of weapons, complete with automatic rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and black ski masks-a veritable bank robber's kit. Should the men in the car be charged? If so, with what?

A son neglects to care for his elderly mother, whose emaciated form is discovered shortly before she dies a painful death. Is the son's neglect punishable, and if so how?

A career con man writes one bad check too many and is sentenced to life in prison-for a check in the amount of $129.75. Is this just?

A thief steals a backpack, only to find it contains a terrorist bomb. He alerts the police and saves lives, transforming himself from petty criminal to national hero.

These are just a few of the many provocative cases that Paul Robinson presents and unravels in Would You Convict?

Judging crimes and meting out punishment has long been an informal national pasttime. High-profile crimes or particularly brutal ones invariably prompt endless debate, in newspapers, on television, in coffee shops, and on front porches. Our very nature inclines us to be armchair judges, freely waving our metaphorical gavels and opining as to the innocence or guilt-and suitable punishment-of alleged criminals.

Confronting this impulse, Paul Robinson here presents a series of unusual episodes that not only challenged the law, but that defy a facile or knee-jerk verdict. Narrating the facts in compelling, but detached detail, Robinson invites readers to sentence the transgressor (or not), before revealing the final outcome of the case.

The cases described in Would You Convict? engage, shock, even repel. Without a doubt, they will challenge you and your belief system. And the way in which juries and judges have resolved them will almost certainly surprise you.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Prologue 1

1 Punishing Intent, Harm, or Dangerousness? 3

Are Evil Intentions a Crime? 3

People's Intuitions of Justice 8

The Law's Rules 9

Background 9

The Aftermath 11

Attempt versus the Complete Offense: The Significanceof Resulting Harm 19

Can Father and Daughter Kill the Same Man Twice? 20

People's Intuitions of Justice 21

More Facts 22

People's Intuitions of Justice 23

The Law's Rules 25

The Aftermath 25

Murder versus Attempted Murder: The Significance ofResulting Harm 27

The Final Outcome 28

The Requirements of Criminal Liability 28

Life Imprisonment for Air Conditioning Fraud? 28

People's Intuitions of Justice 31

Trial and Sentence 32

Punishing Dangerousness: Cloaking Preventive Detentionas Criminal Justice 32

The Appeal 37

The Cost of Undercutting the Criminal Law's

Moral Credibility 37

The Final Outcome 40

Segregating Preventive Detention from Criminal Justice 41

2 Knowing the Law's Commands 44

The Congenial Cadaver 44

People's Intuitions of Justice 50

The Legality Principle and Its Rationales 50

The Aftermath 52

Today 53

When Can an Officer Carry a Gun? 54

People's Intuitions of Justice 56

The Law 57

At Trial 73

At Trial Again: Ignorance or Mistake of Law Is No Excuse 74

Acquitting the Bakers but Convicting the Marreros? 74

Communicating the Criminal Law's Commands 76

The Outcome 76

Legality in Omission Offenses 78

Neglecting Mom . . . to Death 78

People's Intuitions of Justice 81

The Charge 81

The Law's Reluctance to Impose Duties 82

The Outcome 83

Today 84

Striking the Proper Balance between Legality and Justice 84

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers? 85

The Law 87

Ignorance of Law an Excuse? 88

People's Intuitions of Justice 89

The Aftermath 90

The Problem of Discretion 90

Same Facts, Different Perspective 91

The Virtues of Legality 95

Finishing the Story 96

3 Can Committing a Crime Be Doing the Right Thing? 97

Escaping the Prisoners 97

The Law's Rules 103

The Trial and Sentence 104

The Defense's Problems 105

On Appeal 106

People's Intuitions of Justice 107

The Green Case under the Criminal Law of Other States 107

The Final Outcome 109

Killing for Apples 110

The Law's Rule 113

The Trial and Appeal 114

People's Intuitions of Justice 115

Another Look at Ignorance of the Law 116

The Right Deed for the Wrong Reason 123

Disagreement in the Law 125

People's Intuitions of Justice 127

The Outcome 127

A Terrorist's Right to Resist the Thief? 129

Today 130

4 Can Doing the Wrong Thing Ever Be Blameless? 132

Loving, Killing Parents 132

At Trial 137

The Law's Challenge 138

The Outcome 140

People's Intuitions of Justice 140

Adjudicating Blameworthiness versus Announcing

Rules of Conduct 141

The Sentence 142

Killing a Sleeping Abuser 142

The Law's Challenge, Again 147

The Aftermath 148

Battered Spouse Syndrome 149

The Trial 150

The Matters Relevant to Justice 150

The Appeal 151

The All-or-Nothing Disagreement 152

On Remand 153

People's Intuitions of Justice 153

The Law's Unmet Challenge 154

The Pedophile Within 155

The Law's Rules 159

People's Intuitions of Justice 162

The Trial 162

On Appeal 163

The American View 164

Today 166

Picking Clean Drunks 166

The Law's Rules 170

People's Intuitions of Justice 171

Legal Conflict over the Reno Decoy Operation 171

The Peculiar Entrapment Defense 173

The Outcome 174

Legal Disagreements over Entrapment 175

The Aftermath 176

Who Will Explain to Kingston Why Hawkins

Gets Off but He Goes to Jail? 176

5 Martyrs for Our Safety 178

A Farm Boy's Treason? 179

The Power of Coercive Indoctrination 181

Richard's Return 183

People's Intuitions of Justice 185

The Law's Rules 186

Finishing the Story 189

Of Hippies and Bread Trucks: The Abused

Learns to Abuse 191

Alex Cabarga and Richard Tenneson 196

People's Intuitions of Justice 198

The Trial and Sentence 199

The Problem of Discretion 199

Desert versus Dangerousness 201

Today 204

Growing Up Gang: The Short, Violent Lifeof Robert Sandifer 206

People's Intuitions of Justice 209

Robert Sandifer and Alex Cabarga 210

The Aftermath 213

Desert versus Dangerousness, Again 215

Epilogue 217

Appendix: Governing Law, Then and Now 219

Index 321

About the Author 328

Customer Reviews:

Makes you realize why justice is blind!.......2000-01-10

Every day we read about the another high profile case that when the trial is completed there are what seems to be an endless series of debates. Would you convict is a glimpse into 17 cases that make you think.

No one has ever said justice was perfect, but after you read this book you may wonder if there is any justice at all. A great attention to fine details laces this amazing work.

Watch and read and one person is given life over a bad check for $129. Your heart may skip a beat as you read about a mother neglected by her son or was she? Each story is stops you and makes you look at the law a little differently.

Customer Reviews:

Comprises both Causey's diary and memoir.......2001-02-17

Max Causey was a 35 year old administrative engineer when he was drafted into the jury that was to determine the legal fate of Jack Ruby for his murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, who was alleged to have been the assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Causey made the jury foreman and during the course of the trial kept a diary written in long-hand on a reporter's notebook. The diary begins with the second day of his jury duty and is filled with notes taken day-by-day as the trial continued, ending on Saturday, Mary 14, when the jury delivered its verdict. Causey then wrote a short epilogue. Later, he wrote a memoir based on that diary. Ably edited by John Dempsey, assistant professor of Journalism at the University of North Texas, The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited comprises both Causey's diary and memoir, augmented with editor's notes taken from the trial transcripts, books, newspaper and magazine articles and interviews with other surviving members of the jury. The Jack Ruby Trial Revisited is highly recommended reading for students of the JKF assassination controversy and the American criminal justice system.

We the Jury: The Impact of Jurors on Our Basic Freedoms : Great Jury Trials of History

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Learn How Juries Have Protected Liberty!
Review by Jim Powell
A brief history of jury nullification.

We the Jury: The Impact of Jurors on Our Basic Freedoms : Great Jury Trials of History
Godfrey D. Lehman
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Legal System | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

Learn How Juries Have Protected Liberty!.......1998-06-25

Lehman brings to life the drama of the wonderful history of juries doing justice and protecting liberty.

I found most interesting the details of how juries stopped the Salem Witch trials. Juries also stopped slavery in the northern states, and protected blacks in Detroit who fought back against a racist mob. Learn how a judge usurping the jury's power in the trial of Susan B. Anthony put women's rights back several decades.

Lehman entertains while you learn history as if you were in the courtroom watching.

We the Jury brings home why Thomas Jefferson said, "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."

Review by Jim Powell.......1997-10-05

Our system of trial by jury has taken a lot of flack because of the bizarre O.J. criminal trial and all the astronomical damage awards you read about. This thrilling book provides valuable perspective. Lehman shows that "when the jury is unshackled and fully informed, when jurors are guided by conscience and act independently of outside influences, they almost always prove to be the ultimate guardians of people's liberties. Where the jury fails it is usually because the panel is not free to act on conscience. Failures occur when evidence is withheld so that the jury is not fully informed, or where it succumbs to judicial pressure or is otherwise misguided or yields to fear or intimidation." Lehman cites great thinkers like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who considered trial by jury a cornerstone of liberty. And American individualist Lysander Spooner: "The object of this trial by the people in preference to trial by the government, is to guard against every species of oppression by the government." Lehman supports jury nullification, as Spooner put it: "their right, and their primary and paramount duty, to judge of the justice of the law, and to hold all laws invalid, that are, in their opinion unjust or oppressive, and all persons guiltless in violating, or resisting the execution of such laws." One of Lehman's most exciting chapters shows how juries undermined slavery. He recalls John Adams' dramatic observation: "I never knew a jury by a verdict to determine a Negro to be a slave. They almost always found them free." Lehman shows how, for centuries, governments have tried and often managed to manipulate juries by stacking them with pro-government members, blocking their access to evidence, limiting their mandate to judge only the facts of a case and threatening them with punishment if they didn't render a pro-government verdict. Wonderful stuff in this book.

A brief history of jury nullification........1997-10-03

Judicial history student Lehman has compiled twelve cases from England and the U.S. in which jurors have taken it upon themselves, as a matter of conscience, to nullify or overturn horrific laws that endangered our freedoms. The book shows how the concept of jury nullification has been used to protect freedom of assembly, further voting rights, etc. A good case study history of juty nullification.

Unreasonable Doubt: Circumstantial Evidence And an Ordinary Murder in New Haven

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Unreasonable Doubt: Circumstantial Evidence And an Ordinary Murder in New Haven
Norma Thompson
Manufacturer: University of Missouri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Jury | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Legal History | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0826216382

The Palladium of Justice: Origins of Trial by Jury

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valuable contribution, a meditation on the import of juries
Not the best if its sort

The Palladium of Justice: Origins of Trial by Jury
Leonard W. Levy
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Courts | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Jury | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Jurisprudence | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Legal History | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Judicial System | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The American Jury System (Yake Contemporary Law)
We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy
On Crimes and Punishments
Judging the Jury
Legacy of a Great War (Problems in European Civilization)

ASIN: 1566632595

Book Description

Trial by jury is the mainstay of the accusatorial system of criminal justice. Here one of our most distinguished constitutional scholars, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Leonard Levy, brings his formidable skills to bear in tracing the development of what many great legal minds have called the Palladium of Justice. Recounting this history with his characteristic clarity, vigor, and elegance of expression, Mr. Levy has given us a brilliant and useful summary of one of our most cherished freedoms. Incisively, thoroughly, and thoughtfully--as always-Leonard Levy offers historical meaning and understanding to one of our most basic rights. --Stanley I. Kutler

Customer Reviews:

valuable contribution, a meditation on the import of juries.......2005-05-09

Levy's defense of juries and the Anglo-American accusatorial system is a worthwile evening's read that condenses 600 years of legal history into a scarce hundred pages of simple prose--a truly remarkable feat.

As an alternative to trial by ordeal, conjurgation, and battle, juries were an innovative fact-finding solution that helped spread the power of the central government in England, yet also helped focus resistance to British power in revolutionary America.

Levy argues plausibly that though the Anglo-American tradition was hardly perfect, it better averted torture and other excesses of the inquisitorial (Continental) system during the 13th-17th centuries because bringing suspects before a jury to find the facts reduced the likelihood that judges would resort to other means of extracting confessions. The excesses of Guantanamo/Iraq/Afghanistan, where juries have been denied, suggest Levy's point is more than merely academic.

The discussion of the role of juries in the Revolution seems less convincing, if only because the subject matter is less exotic, and contrary impressions are readily available. Still, the Constitutional debates over jury nullification remain relevant today.

A 103-page book, Levy's text does not seek to be an exhaustive treatise so much as an extended essay readily ingestable in an evening or two. Chock-full of interesting tidbits, it should appeal to anyone interested in the purpose and history of juries, one of the most distinctive characteristics of American legal heritage.

Not the best if its sort.......2000-09-26

This volume is far from the author's best work. It was, in fact, a disappointing read. In some places, it was simply inaccurate. In others, the author made statements that needed support - but he declined to use either end notes or foot notes, so we the readers can't check. I believe he wrote this book for casual readers, not serious readers or students.

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History of Trial by Jury
William Forsyth , and Appleton Morgan
Manufacturer: Lawbook Exchange Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0963010689

Book Description

Forsyth, William. History of Trial by Jury [Second edition]. Jersey City: Frederick D. Linn, [1875]. x, 388 pp. Reprinted 1994 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 96-14505. ISBN 0-9630106-8-9. Cloth. $65. First published in England in 1852, Forsyth's Trial by Jury is the first full-scale historical account of the rise and growth of the jury system in England. The American edition adds a number of notes, as well as making several corrections to American references.

Treatise on Trial by Jury: Including Question of Law and Fact With an Introductory Chapter on the Origin and History of Jury Trial

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Treatise on Trial by Jury: Including Question of Law and Fact With an Introductory Chapter on the Origin and History of Jury Trial
John A. Profatt
Manufacturer: Fred B Rothman & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0837725062

Trial by Jury: The Seventh Amendment and Anglo-American Special Juries

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Trial by Jury: The Seventh Amendment and Anglo-American Special Juries
James Oldham
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Civil Procedure | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Courts | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

Jury | Procedures & Litigation | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0814762042
Release Date: 2006-06-01

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

”This piecemeal research is interesting to the extent that the reader is interested in reconstructing the past”
— The Law and Politics Book Review

"This first-rate work of legal history meets the high expectations of those familiar with James Oldham's scholarship, and bears those hallmarks of excellence that we associate with that scholarship: total mastery of the manuscript and other sources, lucid exposition, fresh perspective, and sound insight. Illuminating not only the history of the jury, but the contemporary significance and judicial use of that history, this book will be enlightening for the non-specialist, and a boon to the legal historian."
—Barbara A. Black, George Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History, Columbia Law School

"Essential reading for anyone interested in trial by jury. Oldham speaks with authority about who the jurors were and what they decided. Surprisingly, he supports a 'complexity exception' to the Seventh Amendment's jury trial guarantee in civil cases. His carefully-documented history of both male and female juries of experts is uniquely valuable. No comparable work exists."
—William E. Nelson, Judge Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

"An impressive achievement by the leading historian of eighteenth century English law. Meticulously researched and relevant both to historical and modern debates, this book deserves a wide readership."
—Thomas P. Gallanis, Professor of Law and History, Washington and Lee University

"Oldham wonderfully complicates our historical image of the trial jury enshrined in the Sixth and Seventh Amendments of the Bill of Rights. Early English common law summoned juries of women, foreigners, experts, tradesmen, and neighbors, all deliberately chosen to bring their particular knowledge or experience to court. More than any other scholar, Oldham has revealed the manuscript sources that illuminate the context of English trial practice at the time the Bill of Rights was drafted in the newly-independent United States."
—David J. Seipp, Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law

"Not only legal historians but also practicing historians have a special interest in the subject of this book. One gets a picture of the plasticity of eighteenth-century jury practice that has not been understood."
—John H. Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law & Legal History, Yale Law School

“Oldham's knowledge of the subject matter is encyclopedic, and his investigation has unearthed voluminous material on the historical workings of juries….[H]is research is sure to be cited in support of future attempts to curtail the use of jury trials. Those who support the existing civil justice system will ignore it at their peril.”
—Trial

While the right to be judged by one's peers in a court of law appears to be a hallmark of American law, protected in civil cases by the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution, the civil jury is actually an import from England. Legal historian James Oldham assembles a mix of his signature essays and new work on the history of jury trial, tracing how trial by jury was transplanted to America and preserved in the Constitution.

Trial by Jury begins with a rigorous examination of English civil jury practices in the late eighteenth century, including how judges determined one's right to trial by jury and who composed the jury. Oldham then considers the extensive historical use of a variety of "special juries," such as juries of merchants for commercial cases and juries of women for claims of pregnancy. Special juries were used for centuries in both English and American law, although they are now considered antithetical to the idea that American juries should be drawn from jury pools that reflect reasonable cross-sections of their communities. An introductory overview addresses the relevance of Anglo-American legal tradition and history in understanding America's modern jury system.

Jury Trials And Plea Bargaining: A True History

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Jury Trials And Plea Bargaining: A True History
Michael McConville , and Chester L. Mirsky
Manufacturer: Hart Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Plea Bargaining's Triumph: A History of Plea Bargaining in America

ASIN: 184113516X

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