Are Family Courts a Violation of the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution?

youhatetruth · 2016-03-14T02:29:06+00:00

Family Courts are actually part of the Executive branch and aren't courts at all. As such, they violate MANY laws.

DougDante · 2016-03-13T21:25:16+00:00

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

“In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved”: When the Seventh Amendment was written in the 1700s, $20 was considered a lot of money. Today, any disputes that involve amounts less than $75000 will not be handled in a federal court.

http://kids.laws.com/seventh-amendment

NUMBERS2357 · 2016-03-14T01:38:26+00:00

The Bill of Rights originally only applied to the Federal Government. The Supreme Court, after the 14th Amendment, held that some of the rights in the Bill of Rights were valid against the states, based on various factors. Over time, "some" came to mean "almost all." The 7th Amendment is one of the few that have never been held valid against the states.

As a result, if you were in some sort of federal family court, you would be entitled to a jury. But not in a state court.

The thing about $75000 is about what cases federal courts have jurisdiction over. If a case involves $50,000, then you would get a jury if it were in federal court - but the courts don't have jurisdiction. If it involves $80,000, you get jurisdiction and a jury.

Also, I think the $75,000 is only when federal jurisdiction arises due to the suit being between citizens of different states. If it arises directly under a federal law, I don't think it applies. For example, there's a federal law letting you sue a state official for depriving you of your civil rights - I don't think there's a minimum $$ amount there to get into federal court. But family law is all state law, so the $75k would presumably apply (don't know if federal courts hear family law cases with a lot of money, though).

cld8 · 2016-03-15T03:44:36+00:00

Family courts are state courts, and the $20 requirement has not been incorporated, meaning it does not apply to state governments.

SnickerSnak · 2016-03-14T14:55:43+00:00

As most divorces and child support cases involve more than $20, would this mean that any of the litigants in such cases could invoke their right to a jury trial?

No. Anyone who applies for a marriage license from the state agrees to abide by the state's rules regarding that marriage including how a divorce is going to be handled. For child support cases that don't involve a marriage, there's rules in the Social Security laws that apply. By participating in the Social Security system you have agreed to abide by those rules as well.

In essence, you've already agreed to let the state handle these things. Any suit you would bring would have to be against the state, not against your SO.

Title	Are Family Courts a Violation of the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution?
Author	dalef77
Upvotes	8
Comments	14
Date	March 13, 2016 8:44 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/4a9xiz/are_family_courts_a_violation_of_the_seventh/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/are-family-courts-a-violation-of-the-seventh.954086 https://theredarchive.com/post/954086

Comments