Opinion ID: 1959215
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Seventh Amendment [5] provides:

Text: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved. . . . [6] Proceedings to determine paternity were generally unknown to the common law. See S. SCHATKIN, DISPUTED PATERNITY PROCEEDINGS § 15.01, at 15-2 (1984). Thus, Ms. P argues that Mr. F's claims must fail because the Seventh Amendment only preserves the right to jury trial where it existed at common law, when the Constitution was adopted. Under such a literal interpretation, the Seventh Amendment is inapplicable to new causes of action, based on legislative enactments, which did not exist at common law. [7] In Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 193-94, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 1007-08, 39 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974), however, the Supreme Court expressly rejected such a narrow approach. According to the Court, the Seventh Amendment does apply to actions enforcing statutory rights unheard of at common law, and requires a jury trial upon demand, if the statute creates legal rights and remedies, enforceable in an action. Id., see also Pernell v. Southall Realty, supra, 416 U.S. at 374-75, 94 S.Ct. at 1729-30; Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. New London Enterprises, 619 F.2d 1099 (5th Cir.1980). The better approach for resolving a Seventh Amendment question is to determine the nature of the issue to be tried rather than the character of the overall action. Ross v. Bernhard, 396 U.S. 531, 538, 90 S.Ct. 733, 738, 24 L.Ed.2d 729 (1971) (footnote omitted); see Carithers v. District of Columbia, 326 A.2d 798, 800 (D.C.1974). The Court has suggested that the nature of an issue is determined by considering first the pre-merger custom with reference to such questions; second, the remedy sought; and, third, the practical abilities and limitations of juries. Ross v. Bernhard, supra, 396 U.S. at 538 n. 10, 90 S.Ct. at 738 n. 10; see also Dawson v. Contractor Transport Corp., 151 U.S. App.D.C. 401, 405, 467 F.2d 727, 731-32 (1972). It is helpful to examine the issue's nearest historical analogue. See Parsons v. Bedford, Breedlove, & Dobeson, 28 U.S. (3 Pet.) 433, 447, 7 L.Ed. 732 (1830). In sum, where the issue in dispute is legal in nature a constitutional right to trial by jury attaches; where the issue, however, is equitable in nature there is no constitutional right to a jury trial. See 9 C. WRIGHT & A. MILLER, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 2302, at 15 (1978). We, thus, must determine whether paternity actions are legal or equitable in nature, bearing in mind that the line distinguishing legal from equitable issues is often difficult to define with precision. Ross v. Bernhard, supra, 396 U.S. at 533, 90 S.Ct. at 735.