John Parsons Jr., age 14, of New Bedford, Mass., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST JURY USED?
A jury in law is a body of people who are chosen to decide the truth of factual evidence in an action or legal proceeding and, on instruction of the court, to apply the law to the facts. Such a body is called a petit jury or trial jury.
The exact origin of the jury system is not know. Various writers have attributed it to different European peoples who at an early period developed methods of trial not unlike the early jury trials in England.
It seems probable that the jury in England was derived directly from the Norman institution of recognition by sworn inquest, whereby 12 knights were chosen to serve as recognitors. Their duty was to inquire into various matters of interest for the new rulers of England that might be subject of public inquiry. These matters of interest might include the taxation of a subject.
As early as the 12th century, it had become customary for suitors in certain cases affecting the title to real estate to apply to the King's Court for the summoning of recognitors to ascertain, either from their own knowledge or on inquiry from others, the truth of the matter at issue.
The verdict of the court, if unanimous, was accepted as conclusive.
It was natural that other questions of fact arising in the King's Court should be disposed of in a similar manner and the gradual transformation of the recognitors into the jury in common law followed as a matter of course.
Originally, the jury members were not only judges of fact, but were also witnesses who were selected because of their knowledge of the customs and the people of the locality, and possibly of the suitors themselves. In the 15th century, however, the judges of the courts restricted the jury to the performance of its functions as a judge of fact based on evidence.
In the United States, the selection of a jury commences when a large group of citizens is called to appear for jury duty at each term of court. They are selected according to statutory and constitutional provisions. Each state has its own qualifications for those who may serve on a jury.
In general, ail jurors must be U.S. citizens, local residents, of majority age, of approved integrity and of reasonable intelligence.
The group of jurors called at any one time is known as a panel. Both the state and federal courts have independent lists of jurors that are made up under the direction of officials known as commissioners of jurors.
Jurors are paid, as provided by statute, for time spent serving on jury duty.
At a trial, the selection of the jury is made subject to the direction of the presiding judge. Both the defense and the prosecution may examine the jurors for the purpose of ascertaining whether cause for challenge in any particular case exists that is, whether circumstances exist that might improperly influence a juror's decisions.