Courtroom coup: Bye-Bye, jury.

• Author: Morrow, James
• Position: Citings - Jury trials almost a thing of the past in England - Brief Article

BRITAIN IS POISED to eliminate almost two-thirds of all jury trials, according to a report in the New Statesman. New rules would allow a wide range of offenses (including any crime with a maximum sentence of less than two years) to be tried solely by a judge employed by the crown. To make the situation scarier, much of this change is being implemented by bureaucratic stealth and with as little public comment as possible. As the New Statesman's Nick Cohen put it, "In America, Australia or any other common-law democracy, it...