To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Restore the Civil Jury Trial
The right to a jury trial in civil cases guaranteed by Article 1, Section 16 of the California State Constitution is steadily being eroded by "mandatory arbitration" provisions in: employment contracts, medical insurance contracts, homeowner's insurance contracts, automobile insurance contracts, hospital medical services contracts, and doctor's medical services contracts. If the trend continues, citizens will be subject to contract provisions requiring mandatory arbitration of disputes between borrowers and financial institutions; travelers on airlines, buses, and railroads; consumers and automobile dealers and appliance dealers contracts. The right to a jury trial will become a mere fiction.
Why is this important?
The 7th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 16 of the California State Constitution guarantees its citizen the right to a jury trial in civil cases, such as disputes between banks and borrowers, employees and employers, insurance companies and the people who bought the insurance, doctors and patients, etc. But both the California courts and the U. S. Supreme Court have eroded that right by allowing the bank, employer, insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors to create contracts that have provisions that require in the event of a disagreement the parties must go to arbitration.