The palladium of justice : origins of trial by jury

"The right to a fair trial has been an integral part of American life for centuries. Its central notion is the judgment by an impartial jury of one's peers - a practice so much a part of the American fabric that most Americans do not even question its evolution. How and when this legal custom developed is the subject explored here by one of our most distinguished constitutional scholars. Leonard Levy brings his formidable skills to bear in tracing the development of what many great legal minds have called the "Palladium of Justice.""--Jacket.