Amendment VII · Bill of Rights
Seventh Amendment: Jury trial in civil cases
About 10 min total: 5 min reading + 5 min for its 5 practice questions
Right to a jury in federal civil suits over $20; facts found by a jury are not re-examined except under common law rules.
- Proposed by Congress
- September 25, 1789
- Ratified
- December 15, 1791
- Group
- Bill of Rights
The text
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.
Text: National Archives transcription of the amendments in their original form (spelling and punctuation as in the original).
What it means
- In federal civil lawsuits (disputes between parties, not crimes) where more than $20 is at stake, either side can demand a jury.
- A judge or appeals court may not simply overturn the jury's findings of fact except as the old common law allowed.
Who proposed it
James Madison of Virginia introduced the proposals in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789. He drew on state declarations of rights, especially George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776), and on the amendments the state ratifying conventions had recommended. The House approved 17 amendments; the Senate cut and combined them to 12, and Congress sent those 12 to the states on September 25, 1789.
When it was proposed and ratified
- Proposed by Congress: September 25, 1789. Congress approved the 12-article joint resolution (House September 24, Senate September 25, 1789).
- Ratified: December 15, 1791. Virginia became the 11th of the 14 states to ratify, completing ratification of Articles 3–12 of the 1789 resolution (Amendments 1–10).
Amendments are not signed into law. Congress proposes them by a two-thirds vote of both houses, and they become part of the Constitution when three-fourths of the states ratify. The President has no formal role (Article V).
Why it was made
The Constitution of 1787 had no bill of rights. Anti-Federalists such as George Mason, who refused to sign it partly for this reason, warned that a strong national government could trample individual liberties. Several states ratified only after recommending amendments, and Federalists promised to add them. Madison kept that promise in the First Congress. The amendments limited only the federal government until the Supreme Court began applying most of them to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment (selective incorporation).
The original Constitution guaranteed a jury only for federal crimes (Article III, Section 2). Anti-Federalists worried that civil juries, which colonists valued as a check on royal judges, could be eliminated.
Key Supreme Court cases
None of the FCLE landmark cases centers on this amendment. See all landmark cases.
FCLE tips
- Remember: 7th = civil cases. It has not been applied to state courts.
| This | With this |
|---|---|
| 7th: civil jury | 6th: criminal jury |
Sources: National Archives (text and dates); Constitution Annotated (Congress.gov) (proposal and ratification history); U.S. Senate Historical Office and Library of Congress (sponsors).