Jury System Dbq Essay

1122 Words5 Pages

Over the years, a plethora of court cases have caused Americans to wonder: is our jury system indeed as wondrous as it is conceived to be? To explain, the jury system is the concept of giving the defendant in a trial the option of either having a bench trial, one where a judge alone reaches a verdict, or a trial by jury, one where a group of twelve ordinary citizens is chosen to reach a verdict on the case. One may wonder why a dozen everyday denizens are being endowed with the absolute power over a possibly life or death decision in the life of a neighbor that is unknown to them, but the framers of the United States Constitution believed that this was the most democratic option in making sure that justice is properly served. Explaining further, …show more content…

Of course, it is true that judges are seen as more professional than a jury; there have undoubtedly been times when even a judge may be blinded by his or her own prejudices. As stated by Joe Anderson in Document D, jurors often do not “buy into science fiction” when faced with an obvious case. In the case of the death of Caylee Anthony, the jurors were not bemused by any ungrounded evidence that could have caused Casey Anthony to be found guilty. Certainly in a case of such popularity it is expected that jurors will often have their own preconceived notions about the verdict, but in the end of this case, these jurors were able to put aside their own opinions and only take the hard facts into consideration. Of course, this is the job of a judge as well, but with just one person judging a trial, it is more likely that he or she will give in to his or her own conception of the case. With twelve people judging a case, it is more likely that someone will have the sense and maturity to decide to put aside their own beliefs and only go with the facts. Thus, having a jury gives a better safety guard for the defendant. Yes, the media will often over-publicize a case, causing a possible bias in the jurors, but in the end in cases such as the one in Document D, the jury was able to put aside the media and do what is

Open Document