Political Quotes

“I would like to say a few words about the battle between the jury system and a system in which regular Americans are forced into arbitration, which has a terrible record. I can remember years ago, when I was attorney general, the attorneys general shut down one of the arbitration systems because it was so corrupted and was throwing decisions to big corporate interests, and you cannot really understand that unless you understand the importance of the role of the jury in our country. For centuries, the jury has served as a last sanctuary within our constitutional structure for people who seek justice and fair treatment under the law. It was designed for a specific purpose. When Big Interests control our executive officials, as the Founding Fathers knew they could, when lobbyists have the legislatures tied in knots, as our Founding Fathers knew they could, and when media outlets steer public opinion against individuals, as our Founding Fathers saw that they could, the hard, square corners of the jury box stand firm against that tide of influence and money. There is a lot of history here. It was the earliest American settlers who brought the jury to our country as precious cargo from England. The Virginia Colony established the jury in 1624, roughly a year before the Dutch even settled the island of Manhattan. Early Americans created juries in 1628 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1677 in the Colony of West New Jersey, and in 1682 in Pennsylvania.…”