Constitutional Law—Trial by Jury Guaranty of Seventh Amendment: Local Court Rule May Establish Number of Jurors at Six in Federal Civil Cases—Colgrove v. Battin, 413 U.S. 149 (1973)

Authors

Mark S. Davidson

Abstract

In the late 1960s, dockets in federal courts were becoming increasingly crowded, the backlog of criminal cases having more than doubled in the decade 1958-68. One suggestion for relieving pressure on the dockets was reduction of jury size in civil jury trials from 12 to some lesser number. In the absence of a constitutional amendment, however, the seventh amendment appeared to bar such a reduction in jury size. Nevertheless, within the span of a few years the Supreme Court was to announce a series of decisions which eliminated the constitutional significance of the number 12 and permitted the adoption of the 6-member jury. This judicial revolution reached its culmination last Term in Colgrove v. Battin, which eliminated the requirement of a 12-member jury in civil trials in federal courts.

First Page

1146

Recommended Citation

Mark S. Davidson, Recent Developments, Constitutional Law—Trial by Jury Guaranty of Seventh Amendment: Local Court Rule May Establish Number of Jurors at Six in Federal Civil Cases—Colgrove v. Battin, 413 U.S. 149 (1973), 49 Wash. L. Rev. 1146 (1974).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol49/iss4/6