The Alabama Association for Justice (ALAJ) this week held four events across the southern half of the state as part of its series celebrating the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution.
ALAJ, one of the state’s largest legal organizations, marked the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the introduction of the Bill of Rights with events in Baldwin, Houston, Mobile and Washington Counties.
The group is using its event series to honor judges and judicial staff who work throughout Alabama’s court system. Each gathering has included the presentation of a resolution by the Alabama legislature commending the area’s judiciary.
ALAJ president Josh Hayes has led the events and expressed his own appreciation for those serving in the state’s judicial system.
“ALAJ’s Courthouse Appreciation Tour continues to be a huge success,” he told Yellowhammer News. “Thanks to the dedicated judges and courthouse personnel who keep the wheels of justice turning. Thanks to these public servants, the 7th Amendment right to trial by jury is alive and well.”
Celebrating the introduction of the Seventh Amendment and expressing gratitude for the job these officials do is a natural fit, according to Hayes.
He remarked that ALAJ has sought to “celebrate the Seventh Amendment and the judges, clerks, officers, judicial assistants and courthouse personnel who work tirelessly each day to make sure the right to trial by jury is protected. ALAJ honors these dedicated civil servants and the job they do on behalf of all Alabamians.”
The Seventh Amendment was proposed to the states on September 28, 1789, and ratified on December 15, 1791.
Trial by jury was seen as one area of agreement between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
Bill of Rights author and noted Federalist James Madison wrote, “Trial by jury is essential to secure the liberty of the people as any one of the pre-existent rights of nature.” While Anti-Federalist Patrick Henry wrote, “Trial by jury is the best appendage of freedom. I hope that we shall never be induced to part with that excellent mode of trial.”
The Seventh Amendment reads as follows:
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
ALAJ outlines its mission as preserving and protecting “the constitutional right to a trial by jury guaranteed by the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution by ensuring that every person or business harmed or injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can hold wrongdoers accountable in the one room where everyone is equal – the courtroom.”
Hayes elaborated on its importance for the court system and the maintenance of our civil society.
“The right to trial by jury is part of who we are as Americans so we’re judged by people just like you and I — our peers,” Hayes remarked. “Whether you represent a large corporation or whether you are an injured person on your own, in a jury room that is the one room where everybody is equal — the American courtroom.”
ALAJ plans to conclude its Courthouse Appreciation Tour on December 16 in Tuscaloosa County.
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
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