On December 21, 2015, Circuit Court of Cook County Associate Judge William Edward Gomolinski ruled that the reduction of 12-person juries to 6-person juries in civil trials in Illinois is unconstitutional.  Former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn had signed a bill as a lame duck reducing civil juries from 12 to 6 persons.

Section I, Article 13 of the 1970 state constitution states that “[t]he right to trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed shall remain inviolate.”  Judge Gomolinski construed the language to mean that the right to a jury as it existed in 1970, with 12 jurors, cannot be changed without constitutional amendment.   The ruling was part of an underlying medical-malpractice case filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County—Kakos v. Center of Brain and Spine Surgery, S.C., et al.

Although it is expected to be appealed directly to the Illinois Supreme Court, Judge Gomolinski’s ruling is a step in the right direction for defendants sued in Illinois (particularly in Cook County) as the reduction of juries from 12 to 6 persons provided an advantage to plaintiffs by requiring plaintiffs to convince only 6 minds rather than 12.

Submitted by Zachary Shook