Amendment VII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

My opinion: Amendment 7 guarantees a jury trial in civil suits where the value exceeds $20. When both parties agree, a judge, rather than a jury, can decide the case, this makes things alot simpler and straight forward; no room for question.

The Seventh Amendment



My Opinion: This video I thought gave a good representation of the Seventh Amendment. It is shamful seeing those political figures that were eventually fired for breaking the constitution. Shouldn't that be a requirement when going into politics... following the document that let's them stand here today and do as they please?

Seventh Amendment guarantees right to jury trial on amount of statutory damages under Copyright Act
Law Reporter, Jun 1998

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial on statutory damages due under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq. Here, Columbia Pictures Television, Inc., sued the owner of several television stations for copyright infringement when he continued to broadcast Columbia's programs after his licenses had been terminated for nonpayment. The trial court granted plaintiff summary judgment on liability, and plaintiff exercised its option under the Copyright Act's 504(c) to choose statutory damages instead of actual damages. The trial court denied defendant's jury trial request and awarded plaintiff statutory damages. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that neither the Copyright Act nor the Seventh Amendment requires a jury trial on statutory damages.

Reversing, the Supreme Court noted there is no statutory right to a jury trial when a copyright owner elects to recover statutory damages. Section 504(c) makes no mention of a right to a jury trial, providing instead that damages should be assessed in an amount "the court deems just." The word "court" in this context appears to mean judge. The Court noted other remedy provisions of the Copyright Act use the word "court" to signify judge. By contrast, the provision addressing awards of actual damages and profits does not use the word "court." Turning to the constitutional issue, the Court noted that even before the adoption of the Seventh Amendment, copyright damages actions were tried before juries. There is no evidence that the Copyright Act changed this practice. The Court rejected plaintiff's argument that statutory damages are equitable in nature. The general rule is that monetary relief is legal, and a statutory damages award serves purposes traditionally associated with legal relief, such as compensation and punishment.

The Court also noted the right to a jury trial includes having the jury determine the amount of statutory damages. The Court distinguished a previous case in which it determined that although the Seventh Amendment grants a right to a jury trial on liability for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, Congress could constitutionally authorize trial judges to assess the amount of the civil penalties. In that case, there was no evidence that juries historically had determined the amount of civil penalties to be paid to the government. Here, there was clear and direct historical evidence that the consistent practice in copyright cases was for juries to award damages.

My Opinion: Since this was clearly stated under the Copyright Act, Columbia Pictures Television has every right to sue these television stations. And since they were given the option of statutory damages vs. actual damages, this is where it says that a jury trial is not necessary. I think it would of been easier to solve this by going to court and appointing these damages to a judge to make things fair and easy.