Civil jury trials plummet in Texas

Civil jury trials are becoming rare in Texas.

The right to have disputes decided by a panel of fellow citizens is cited in the Declaration of Independence and explicitly confirmed in the constitutions of Texas and the United States.

But new statistics show that the right to “trial by jury” is quietly and steadily disappearing.

The 1,195 jury trials conducted in 2011 are one-third the number held in 1996, according to the Texas Administrative Office of Courts.  during the same period, the number of lawsuits rose 25 percent.

In 1996, juries decided one out of every 48 lawsuits filed.  Last year, only one in 183 new civil complaints resulted in jury verdicts. 

Recently posted in the Dallas Morning News.  

We are doing everything we can to change this, but these are the facts.