Every so often, adults may be asked to perform a civic duty by sitting on a jury.

Usually the commitment might be nothing more than a few hours or a few days.

Occasionally, some juries might get a case that last years.

Why do we have juries and where did this notion come from? Do most

countries have juries and what does a jury of your peers really mean? Learn

more about the history of the jury system on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Audible.

My audiobook recommendation is Terror to the Wicked, America's first Trial by Jury that ended a war and helped

deform a nation by Toby Pearl. The book tells the story of America's first

murder trial which took place in 1638 in the white

1638 in what is today Rhode Island.

It covers the murder of a native nip punk man,

the white fugitive which killed him to steal his pelts,

and the jury which was assembled to meet out justice.

You can get a free one-month trial to

audible and two free audio books by going to

Audible Trial.com slash everything everywhere or by

clicking on the link in the show notes.

The idea of a jury is not one which was passed down from the ancients as many parts of

Western civilization are.

The ancient Greeks did have something akin to a jury, but it was more of a form of arbitration, not an application of law.

The Romans absolutely did not have anything resembling a jury, nor did any of the institutions of the church which

followed in its wake. The modern notion of a jury stems from 13th century England and the

...