Grand juries in the United States

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England, juries also handed down rulings on the law in addition to rulings on the facts of the case. The American grand jury was also indispensable to the American Revolution by challenging the Crown and Parliament, including by indicting British soldiers, refusing to indict people who criticized the crown, proposing boycotts and called for the support of the war after the Declaration of Independence. At the time of the founding of the United States, a grand jury indictment was required for almost all prosecutions and juries rendered the final verdict of almost all criminal and civil cases. During that period counties followed the traditional practice of requiring all decisions be made by at least twelve of the grand jurors, (e.g., for a twenty-three-person grand jury, twelve people would constitute a bare majority). Any citizen could bring a matter before a grand jury directly, from a public work that needed repair, to the delinquent conduct of a public official, to a complaint of a crime, and grand juries could conduct their own investigations. In that era most criminal prosecutions were conducted by private parties, either a law enforcement officer, a lawyer hired by a crime victim or their family, or even by laymen. A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury; if the grand jury found there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant. The grand jury would then appoint the complaining party to exercise the authority of an attorney general, that is, one having a

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proficiency, or other eligibility factors. They typically only appear in court a few days a month and meet in secret to protect jurors from intimidation or smear campaigns, prevent any innocent people from being subjected to unfounded charges, not to tip-off targets of an investigation who may be a flight risk, reduce the likelihood of witness tampering before a future trial, and encourage witnesses to be more forthcoming. Witnesses can typically reveal what occurred when they testified.

307:, grand juries are required to issue an indictment in felony cases. They are composed of 16 to 23 people who serve for a fixed term which varies depending on the county. These grand juries hear many different cases during their session. In addition to the well-known criminal functions they carry out, grand juries may also perform civil investigations; they may then issue a report, officially called a general presentment, or in some cases a special presentment. 230:(accusation) presented, by a competent public officer on their oath of office, must be a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged, and must give the official or customary citation of the statute, rule, regulation, or other provision of law that the defendant is alleged to have violated. If the grand jury returns an indictment, it must satisfy the same criteria. 117:, which resolves a particular civil or criminal case, a grand jury (typically having twelve to twenty-three members) serves as a group for a sustained period of time in all or many of the cases that come up in the jurisdiction, generally under the supervision of a federal U.S. attorney, a county district attorney, or a state attorney-general, and hears evidence 345:

reduces the accountability and transparency into the process, including for grand jurors who may want to respond to commentary after submitting their decision. Also, the grand juries may not be representative of the community and tend to be made up of older, more educated and wealthier citizens, though some counties use regular jury rolls for grand juries.

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Suja A. Thomas argues that juries (including grand juries) were intended by the founders as a co-equal check on the other branches of government such as the executive branch (prosecutors), the judicial branch (judges), the legislature and states, but that these other branches of government had taken

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Some criticize the process as being too easy to reach an indictment and that the District Attorney usually directs the investigation and that prosecutors are allowed to withhold evidence favorable to the defendant. Others argue that defendants should be allowed to have a lawyer present, that secrecy

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Only about half require a grand jury indictment to commence a criminal prosecution, and among those, many limit the requirement to felonies or even certain types of felonies. Suja A. Thomas argues that all states should be required to use Grand Juries per the constitution, and that jury rights are

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A grand jury's constitutional role is to prevent prosecutorial misconduct, verifying that the presented information (accusation) is sufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution. To achieve this, a grand jury is given investigative powers such as being able to issue subpoenas and compel witnesses to

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They are rarely read any instruction on the law, as this is not a requirement; their job is only to judge on what the prosecutor produced. The prosecutor drafts the charges and decides which witnesses to call. Individuals in grand jury proceedings can be charged with holding the court in contempt

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Typically between 16 and 23 grand jurors are drawn at random from lists of registered voters, actual voters or a similar list (typically the same one that is used for trial jurors). Unlike potential jurors in regular trials, grand jurors are not screened for bias, just for felony status, language

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grand juries played a major role in public matters. In the late 18th century, colonial civil, criminal and grand juries played major roles in checking the power of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. In some American colonies (such as in New England and Virginia) and less often in

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Former Arizona prosecutor Paul Charlton described grand juries as taking on a more independent and hands-on approach in newsworthy or politically sensitive probes like those involving public corruption, while generally letting the prosecutors lead on cases like bank robberies.

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testify without a lawyer present. In practice, a grand jury is sometimes used to extend rather than restrict prosecutorial power, when prosecutors may not have enough evidence to pursue a prosecution and want to see whether a grand jury can secure sufficient evidence.

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Georgia law also provides for the formation of special purpose grand juries. Special purpose grand juries are different from regular grand juries in that they are focused on a single topic, may be empaneled for longer, and most importantly, since

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almost all of the jury's power by the 21st century. She further argues that juries are more impartial than judges and other decision-makers because they are free from political or status incentives to rule a certain way.

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United States law also provides for the formation of special grand juries. While a regular grand jury primarily decides whether to bring charges, a special grand jury is called into existence to investigate whether

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in every judicial district having more than four million inhabitants must impanel a special grand jury at least once every 18 months as well as upon request by a designated official of the Justice Department.

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governs grand juries. It requires grand juries to be composed of 16 to 23 members and that 12 members must concur in an indictment. A grand jury is instructed to return an indictment if the

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oday, the grand jury is the total captive of the prosecutor who, if he is candid, will concede that he can indict anybody, at any time, for almost anything, before any grand jury.

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There's a facetious saying in legal circles about the ease with which prosecutors can secure indictments in grand jury cases: You can get a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich."

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The size of the grand jury and the number of grand jurors required to issue an indictment varies among the states and even, at times, within a single state. A

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As of 1971, generally speaking, a grand jury may issue an indictment for a crime, also known as a "true bill," only if it verifies that those presenting had

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Some states have "civil grand juries," "investigating grand juries," or the equivalent, to oversee and investigate civil issues instead of criminal ones.

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also uses the system similar to civil grand juries used by some U.S. states to investigate corruption and other more systemic issues.

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The grand jury: considered from an historical, political and legal standpoint, and the law and practice relating thereto

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is occurring in the community in which it sits. This could include, for instance, organized drug activity or organized

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