Jury trials, a critical part of democracy, are disappearing

When jurors aren't involved, rulings are less public − and private interests have more influence over outcomes. ftwitty/E+ via Getty Images

The right to trial by jury in criminal and civil cases is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It’s also a critically important way in which citizens can participate in democracy.

The French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville observed early American juries at work. He noted in “Democracy in America” in 1831 that trial by jury “places the real direction of society in the hands of the governed, or of a portion of the governed, instead of leaving it under the authority of the Government.”