what is the 7th amendment in simple terms?

Question

please help with the 7th amendment. I looked everywhere I possibly could but the meaning of it is to complicating for me to understand. could you guys please explain to me like you would explain to a elementary school child... hopefully that would help me... thank you so much

Answer 1

Hi Ashley--

 

The 7th Amendment basically covers an idea similar to one of the ideas in Amendment 5, the "double jeopardy" principle.

 

But instead of covering criminal charges, this one has to do with lawsuits for money. So if someone sues you, but the jury finds that you did nothing wrong, you can't be sued again by the same person on the same grounds, and they can't appeal the case to a different court in the hopes of getting a better decision.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Matt in NY

Answer 2

It has several important parts:

 

(1) Deals ONLY with Civil cases (not criminal ones)

 

(2) Courts cannot overturn results of a FEDERAL trial of fact (this is where the double jeopardy would fall--so it forbids retrying)

 

(3) They must use federal law (cannot use state or local laws)

 

(4) The jury must have at least 6 members

 

(5) Unless the parties waive the right, it MUST be before a jury (so if they waive the right it then can be decided by the judge alone but only then).

(6) The value of the item/services has to be more than $20 (which was A LOT of money when that was first written).

 

Hope this makes things a little clearer.