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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 NYU Press www.nyupress.org 368 pp., $55

We often need legal rights to protect our access to something we want or need that somebody else doesn't want us to have.

The right to trial by jury is no exception: Almost every court decision on the subject of trial by jury arises because someone opposes someone else's desire to have a jury hear the merits of their dispute. A hearing is held; case law, legislation, and constitutions are cited; history is invoked; and exquisite arguments are made for why a jury should not hear the case. Those opposing the jury trial may argue that the issue historically has not been decided by juries; that relevant legislation makes no provision for a jury trial; that the issue is too complex for a jury to decide; that the issue is one of law, not fact; or that there simply are no facts in dispute.

In essence, the struggle over the right to trial by jury is a political contest over how much power will be left in the hands of ordinary Americans and how much power the courts will allow to...

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