History of Jury Trial in America

Central Oklahoma Association of Legal Assistants (COALA)

Learning Objectives:

1. Americans’ infatuation with jury trial goes back long before the United States declared and obtained independence.
2. Jury Nullification—the idea that a jury may acquit a defendant they believe guilty, because they disagree with the law itself—is the root of that infatuation.
3. Pre-revolution, the idea that ordinary people could overrule the word of the King via jury verdict empowered and inspired Americans, and that spirit lives on today.

CLE Hours = 1 Substantive