Question 3 - Civil Jury Trials Chapter 809 of 2021 (Senate Bill 669)

Summary

This constitutional amendment would provide that legislation may be enacted to limit the right to a jury trial in a civil proceeding in which the amount in controversy is not more than $25,000 instead of not more than $15,000, as currently specified in the Maryland Constitution. The dollar amount specified in the constitutional amendment excludes attorney's fees that may be recoverable in the civil proceeding. Legislation passed in the 2021 session of the General Assembly, contingent on the approval of this constitutional amendment by the voters, would provide that a party may not demand a jury trial in a civil proceeding if the amount in controversy does not exceed $25,000, excluding attorney's fees if attorney's fees are recoverable in the proceeding. In that case, a judge, rather than a jury, would determine the verdict.

A "yes" vote supports authorizing the General Assembly to enact legislation that limits the right to a jury trial in a civil proceeding to those proceedings in which the amount in controversy exceeds $25,000, excluding attorney's fees if attorney's fees are recoverable in the proceeding.

A "no" vote opposes changing the current limits to the right to a jury trial in a civil proceeding in which the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000. Under current law, the amount in controversy must exceed $15,000 before a party to a proceeding may demand a jury trial. In cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed this threshold amount, a judge, rather than a jury, will determine the verdict.

Arguments

"The [Maryland State Bar Association] has found that civil claims with lower amounts in controversy cannot be litigated economically in the circuit courts. Generally, when those claims require testimony by medical experts, the high costs of those expert witnesses, as well as the expansive discovery in the circuit court combine make such cases unduly expensive to pursue. The result is that often plaintiffs with smaller claims face unfairly high barriers to justice." - Richard A. Montgomery III, Director of Legislative & Governmental Relations at the MSBA, in support of Question 3 (Learn more)

"The right to a trial by jury should never be taken away or limited in a discriminatory fashion. Yet that would be the precise impact of these bills. The net effect of the doubling of the minimum amount of jury trials in Maryland would be discriminatory, not associated with justice for all, but justice for some." - Maryland Defense Counsel, in opposition to Question 3 (Learn more)

Measure Details