Dec 8

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Save the Date for the NCSC Jury System Management Workshop

On February 14–16, 2024 in Austin, Texas, the National Center for State Courts and the Travis County District Clerk are co-sponsoring the Jury System Management Workshop. Participants will learn about best practices to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of jury operations, to ensure the integrity of the jury selection process, and to treat jurors with dignity and respect.  Capacity is limited to 45 participants. Courts are encouraged to bring teams. Trial court systems that include limited, general, and special jurisdictions have benefited from this program in addition to municipal, city, district, and county courts. If you would like to attend, please fill out this interest form, and we will send you the registration link once it becomes available. For more information, you can email Laney Snyder or Paula Hannaford-Agor.

SCOTUS Ponders Extending Right to Jury Trial to Administrative Proceedings

The National Law Journal reports that the nation’s high court was open to George Jarkesy’s argument that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of administrative law judges to impose fines on those accused of securities violations violates the Seventh Amendment. Jarkesy, a former hedge fund manager, was found guilty of defrauding investors and was ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty, along with disgorging almost $685,000 in ill-gotten gains. Additionally, Jarkesy claimed that Congress violated the separation-of-powers principle by delegating an undefined scope of authority to the SEC in determining how to pursue enforcement actions and that the protections insulating SEC judges from removal were unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Jarkesy on these claims. The U.S. now appeals.

Meta Alleges FTC's In-House Trials Violate Right to Jury

The National Law Journal also reports that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, recently filed suit against the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that the FTC’s use of administrative law judges to impose civil fines on the company violates its right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. This resembles the similar attack mounted against the SEC (see above) for its administrative adjudications. Additionally, Meta argues that the FTC’s enforcement proceedings violate the due-process clause by having “a dual role as a prosecutor and judge” and that the inability of FTC commissioners to be removed by the president except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office” violates separation of powers.

Federal District Court Judge Denies Giuliani's Attempt to Ditch Jury Trial

NBC News reports that U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell rejected former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani’s last-minute request to have a bench trial in lieu of a jury trial to determine the amount of damages he owes to two Georgia election workers. Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss served as Georgia election workers during the 2020 election and filed suit against the former New York City Mayor after he claimed that the pair had passed around USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine.” Giuliani was found liable by default judgment for defamation and claimed that “a jury trial is inappropriate on the issue of damages when a Court has issued a default judgment as a sanction.” Judge Howell denied his request and held that to approve it would “unfairly abrogate plaintiffs’ jury trial rights” and the amount of damages is “peculiarly within the province of the jury.”

Supreme Court of Justice in Argentina Province Affirms Finality of Jury Verdicts

The Argentine Jury Trial Association reports that the State Supreme Court of Justice of Entre Rios province rejected an appeal by the prosecution challenging a jury’s not-guilty verdict. The court’s support of the jury system was unequivocal, holding that “It should be noted here that the laws establishing juries in [other] provinces have rules similar to those . . . . Thus, the arguments made by the appellants that this is a flaw in the jury system of countries with an Anglo-Saxon tradition – which they remarkably, and wrongly, consider to be antiquated and unwilling to subscribe to norms in accordance with human rights – fall flat in the face of the reality of our country, in which every year, overwhelmingly, more federal territories are incorporated into the democratic and republican jury system.”