Opinion ID: 853134
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Indiana's Guarantee of Trial by Jury

Text: Article I, section 20 of the Indiana Constitution reads, In all civil cases, the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. The right to a jury trial holds a special place in the system of justice, and we guard it against encroachment. That said, it has long been agreed that Article I, section 20 serves to preservethe right to a jury trial only as it existed at common law. See City of Crown Point v. Newcomer, 204 Ind. 589, 595, 185 N.E. 440, 443 (1933) (citing Wright v. Fultz, 138 Ind. 594, 38 N.E. 175 (1894); Allen v. Anderson, 57 Ind. 388 (1877)). Drawing as we do from English common law roots and England's symbiotic system of law courts and equity courts, it is a well-settled tenet that a party is not entitled to a jury trial on equitable claims. Dean v. State ex rel. Bd. of Med. Registration & Examination, 233 Ind. 25, 116 N.E.2d 503 (1954); W.A. Flint Co. v. John V. Farwell Co., 192 Ind. 439, 134 N.E. 664 (1922). This principle is embodied in Ind. Trial Rule 38(A): (A) Causes triable by court and by jury. Issues of law and issues of fact in causes that prior to the eighteenth day of June, 1852, were of exclusive equitable jurisdiction shall be tried by the court; issues of fact in all other causes shall be triable as the same are now triable. In case of the joinder of causes of action or defenses which, prior to said date, were of exclusive equitable jurisdiction with causes of action or defenses which, prior to said date, were designated as actions at law and triable by jurythe former shall be triable by the court, and the latter by a jury, unless waived; the trial of both may be at the same time or at different times, as the court may direct.