HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 28, No. 6 | Page 66

Jury triaLS: tHeater oF tHe voiCeS oF tHe StarS aNd StripeS
Trial and litigation Section – Annual Student Jury Essay Contest Winning Essay
Chair: Brandon Faulkner – Holland & Knight, LLP
to reflect that
their clients with
desensitization
their greatest day
with the advent
in court. Jury
of school and
trials also limit
public mass
the influence of
shootings, such
wealth and power,
as the recent
and prevent the
massacres in
development of
our Sunshine
a society led by
State. We need to
arbitrary rule,
curate an interest
tyranny, and
in citizens to
corruption.
Jury trials can be a
become involved
Importantly,
vehicle
to
raise
societal
in the direction
jury trials keep
of our society.
citizens engaged
concerns that deserve
Jurors of diverse
in the American
extra
attention
from
backgrounds are
system of law and
selected to serve
justice. Jury trials
appellate courts.
the interests of
can be a vehicle
justice every
to raise societal
week, because
concerns that
their input and feedback is needed
deserve extra attention from
from each voice that resides under
appellate courts. Previously, there
the Stars and Stripes, in order to
existed larger public audiences
keep our great Nation as pure and
of trials, as courtrooms were
innocent as possible in its pursuit of
the popular theaters of the day.
fairness and justice.
Currently, movie theaters, the
Therefore, jury trials are important
internet, and social media have
to American Jurisprudence in order
a stronger appeal than the pews
to minimize avenues of corruption;
and benches of the solemn halls
keep the public engaged in the civic
of courthouses. As a result, jury
duty of the courtroom; and keep
service has become more important
America’s courts relevant, alive, and
as it keeps the public engaged in
aglow. Jury trials provide jurors with
resolving the flaws and causes of
the opportunity to relate to other
societal degradation.
citizens and unite their education
Finally, jury trials provide the
and analysis to the story unfolding
litigants with diverse viewpoints
on the stand. This ensures that the
and fresh ideas. Judges are
storytellers will await their fate from
subjected to similar crimes and
the mixed and monumental effort
claims on a regular basis, and
of the jury box and bench.
that saturation may lead to the
desensitization of the gravity of
these matters on the lives of the
Author: Mark Streufert – WMU
parties in interest. Society appears
Cooley Law School Student
© Can Stock Photo / stockage
The following is the winning essay
from the HCBA Trial & Litigation
Section’s annual student jury essay
contest. Congratulations to Mark
Steufert for the winning submission.
I
believe that jury trials are
important to American
Jurisprudence because the
law often lags behind societal
evolution, and jury trials keep fresh
perspectives in the courtroom.
Jury trials are a critical balance to
judicial authority, by securing the
involvement of diverse minds in
the judicial process, and relieving
some of the heavy burden off of
the shoulders of Lady Justice and
maintaining a luster and shine in
her eyes.
A trial by jury offers a form of
security from centralized power.
For example, if a litigant wants to
unlawfully influence the officers
of the court, the list of targets is
small and the threat of arbitrary
rule is great. Alternatively, jurors
provide a fresh perspective to the
proceedings and require lawyers to
be honest in harnessing the horses
of their client’s interests towards
the brightest and clearest chariots
of persuasion, which can provide
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SUMMER 2018
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HCBA LAWYER