A Dallas Morning News investigative report concludes that there’s been more than a decade of whittling away at the fundamental right to a trial by jury. “More and more matters once decided by juries are being

handled by judges or private arbitrators or are being banned

from the courtroom entirely. ‘The American jury is in serious

trouble,’ says Valerie Hans, a

University of Delaware

psychology professor and

recognized authority on the role

of juries in the national culture.” Trends include limiting the amount of civil jury monetary awards; the removal of entire areas of decision-making from juries; corporations that require customers to surrender their right to jury trial in future disputes as a condition of doing business; and an increase in judicial reversals of jury findings, a right judges have but have historically used only sparingly. Attacks on rule by jury arise from fears that modern lawsuits are too complex for the lay public to understand; that juries are too easily manipulated by lawyers; and that jurors are too prone to find for the “little guy” against a corporation.