GRAND JURY
A panel of citizens that is convened by a court to
decide whether it is appropriate for the govern-
ment to indict (proceed with a prosecution
against) someone suspected of a crime.
An American institution since the colonial
days, the grand jury has long played an impor-
tant role in CRIMINAL LAW. The FIFTH AMEND-
MENT to the U.S. Constitution says that a person
suspected of a federal crime cannot be tried
until a grand jury has determined that there is
enough reason to charge the person. Review by a
grand jury is meant to protect suspects from
inappropriate prosecution by the government,
since grand jurors are drawn from the general
population. It has been criticized at times as fail-
ing to serve its purpose.
The grand jury system originated in twelfth-
century England, when King HENRY II enacted
the Assize of Clarendon in order to take control
of the courts from the Catholic Church and
local nobility. The proclamation said that a per-
son could not be tried as a criminal unless a cer-
tain number of local citizens appeared in court
to accuse him or her of specific crimes. This
group of citizens, known as the grand assize, was
very powerful: it had the authority to identify
suspects, present evidence personally held by
individual jurors, and determine whether to
make an accusation. Trial was by ordeal, so accu-
sation meant that conviction was very likely.
(Trial by ordeal involved subjecting the defen-
dant to some physical test to determine guilt or
innocence. For example, in ordeal by water, a
suspect was thrown into deep water: if he or she
floated, the verdict was guilty; if the suspect
sank, the verdict was innocent.)
The grand assize was not designed to protect
suspects, and it changed very little over the next
five hundred years. Then, in 1681, its reputation
began to evolve. An English grand jury denied
King Charles II’s wish for a public hearing in the
cases of two Protestants accused of TREASON for
opposing his attempts to reestablish the Catholic
Church. The grand jury held a private session
and refused to indict the two suspects. This gave
the grand jury new respect as a means of protec-
tion against government bullying (although
ultimately in those particular cases, the king
found a different grand jury willing to indict the
suspects).
After this small act of rebellion, the grand
jury became known as a potential protector of
people facing baseless or politically motivated
prosecution. The early colonists brought this
concept to America, and by 1683, all colonies had
some type of grand jury system in place.Over the
next century, grand juries became more sympa-
thetic to those who resisted British rule. In 1765,
for example, a Boston grand jury refused to
indict leaders of protests against the STAMP ACT,
a demonstration of resistance to colonialism.
The grand jury was considered important
enough to be incorporated into the U.S. Consti-
tution, and has remained largely unchanged.
Grand juries are used in the federal and most
state courts. Federal grand juries use a standard
set of rules. States are free to formulate their
own pretrial requirements, and they vary greatly
in the number of grand jurors they seat, the lim-
its they place on the deliberations of those
jurors, and whether a grand jury is used at all.
Federal courts use a grand jury that consists of
23 citizens but can operate with a quorum of 16.
Twelve jurors’ votes are required for an indict-
ment. States use a grand jury consisting of as few
as five but no more than 23 members. Grand
juries are chosen from lists of qualified state res-
idents of legal age, who have not been convicted
of a crime, and who are not biased against the
subject of the investigation.
The usual role of a grand jury is to review
the adequacy of evidence presented by the pros-
ecutor and then decide whether to indict the
suspect. In some cases, a grand jury decides
which charges are appropriate. Generally, grand
jurors do not lead investigations, but can ques-
tion witnesses to satisfy themselves that evidence
is adequate and usable. The prosecutor prepares
a bill of indictment (a list explaining the case
and possible charges) and presents evidence to
the grand jury. The jurors can call witnesses,
including the target of the investigation, without
revealing the nature of the case. They call wit-
nesses by using a document called a subpoena.A
person who refuses to answer the grand jury’s
questions can be punished for CONTEMPT of
court. However, no witness need answer incrim-
inating questions unless that witness has been
granted IMMUNITY. In federal courts, the jurors
may accept HEARSAY and other evidence that is
