On the eve of former Governor Pat Quinn’s last day in office, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that raised the daily pay rate for jurors. However, the law also provided that the size of juries in Illinois should be halved, from 12 jurors to just 6.[1] While much of the legal community applauded the passage of this Act for the increase in daily pay to jurors, the Illinois Bar of Defense Attorneys criticized the jury size reduction. The defense bar’s reasoning for this outcry was the perception that smaller juries would be more easily swayed by emotional tactics that tend to favor plaintiffs and their attorneys.
Shortly after the passage of this law, which became effective on June 1, 2015, the defendants in a medical malpractice case filed a motion to have the court declare the law unconstitutional. Both the circuit court and Illinois Appellate Court held that the law was unconstitutional, and the plaintiffs in that case appealed up to the Illinois Supreme Court. In a unanimous opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ findings and placed the final nail in the law’s coffin.
The Illinois Supreme Court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice Rita Garman, noted that the state delegates that drafted Illinois’s constitution in 1970 had demonstrated a clear intention to keep certain common law features as part of the legal system, such as 12-person juries. In particular, in her analysis, Chief Justice Garman stated, “[t]he 1970 constitution protects the right of trial by jury ‘as heretofore enjoyed,’ which means the right as it was enjoyed at the time the constitution was drafted.”
Although this decision preserves the right to a 12-person jury in Illinois courts, federal courts have used juries of varying sizes, including as small as 6 jurors, for a number of years. In addition, because the jury size reduction could not be severed from the rest of the law, the entire Act was found unconstitutional. This ruling means that the increased daily pay for jury members was also eliminated. Cook County jurors will once again receive the former pay rate of only $17 per day of service. Many critics, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, pointed out that the amount juries are currently paid often times does not even cover the cost of parking near the Daley Center in downtown Chicago, where many jury trials take place.
Because of this ruling, Illinois’s 6-person juries lasted just over a year and more than likely will have had a minimal impact on the Illinois legal system, as the jury system has reverted to its original form. However, this case is a good example that the legal system is constantly subject to change and that each case requires a complete analysis of strategic considerations. When it comes to initiating a lawsuit or defending against one, you need the experience and knowledge of seasoned legal professionals on your side, professionals like those with Rock Fusco & Connelly, LLC.
[1] 735 ILCS 5/2-1105(b).