Posted by
NOTLEGALROADKILLYET on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 8:19:50 PM
A few days ago Prawfsblawg had a thread on whether or not summary judgements are constitutional given that the 7th Amendment seems to guarantee trial by jury. For the moment, at least, the issue is confined to one law professor who has written a soon to be published law review article on it.
One commentator to the thread made the following observation:
I agree with Simon that rules 50 & 56 are limits on juries' power to nullify. In the civil context, though, it's not just about giving juries the opportunity to show mercy to particular people; it's about giving juries the opportunity to take piles of money away from defendants without a proper legal basis.