''Bushel’s Case'' (1670) 124 E.R. 1006, also spelled ''Bushell's Case'', is a famous

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

decision on the role of

juries A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England dur ...

. It established beyond question the independence of the jury. It also confirmed that the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

could issue a

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' in ordinary criminal cases.

Background

''Bushel's Case'' arose from a previous case (''R v. Penn and Mead'' or ''Trial of Penn and Mead,'' 6 How. 951) involving two

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

charged with

unlawful assembly Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

(the future founder of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

) and William Mead. They had been arrested in August 1670 for violating the Conventicle Act, which forbade religious assemblies of more than five people outside the auspices of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. The jury found the two "guilty of speaking in Gracechurch Street" but refused to add "to an unlawful assembly". The infuriated judge charged the jury that they "shall not be dismissed until we have a verdict that the court will accept". The jury modified the verdict to "guilty of speaking to an assembly in Gracechurch Street", whereupon the judge had them locked up overnight without food, water or heat. The judge ordered Penn bound and gagged. Penn protested, shouting to the jury, "You are Englishmen, mind your Privilege, give not away your Right", to which juror Edward Bushel replied, "Nor shall we ever do." Finally, after a two-day fast, the jury returned a not guilty verdict. The judge fined the jury for contempt of court for returning a verdict contrary to their own findings of fact and removed them to prison until the fine was paid. Penn protested that this violated Magna Carta and was forcibly removed from the court. Edward Bushel, a member of the jury, nonetheless refused to pay the fine.

Decision

William Penn & William Mead - plaque - 01

Bushel petitioned the

for a writ of ''

''. Sir John Vaughan, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, initially held that the writ should not be granted, saying that it was King's Bench that should issue writs of ''habeas corpus'' in ordinary criminal cases and that Common Pleas could issue the writ only on a claim of privilege of the court (e.g., if the petitioner were an attorney of Common Pleas); the other justices issued the writ, however.Paul D. Halliday, ''Habeas Corpus: From England to Empire'' (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2010), 235–36. Vaughan ruled in November 1670 that a jury could not be punished simply on account of the verdict it returned, but that individual jurors could still be punished if it could be demonstrated that they had acted improperly.

Notes

{{reflist

Bibliography

Trial of William Penn and William Mead, at the Old Bailey, for a Tumultuous Assembly"
22 Charles II. A. D. 1670, ''Howell's State Trials'', Vol. 6, Page 951, at

Constitution Society The Constitution Society is a nonprofit educational organization headquartered at San Antonio, Texas, U.S., and founded in 1994 by Jon Roland, an author and computer specialist who has run for public office as a Libertarian Party candidate on a ...

"Case of the Imprisonment of Edward Bushell for alleged Misconduct as a Juryman"
22 Charles II. A. D. 1670, Vaughan's Reports, 135, ''Howell's State Trials'', Vol. 6, Page 999, at

"Between Local Knowledge and National Politics: Debating Rationales for Jury Nullification after Bushell’s Case"
by Simon Stern, 111 ''Yale Law Journal'' 1815 (2002). *Rhodes, David. "Life in Crime: Can a Judge ever direct a jury to convict?" ''Solicitors Journal'' 8 December 2006

External links

Text of Vaughan's opinion in this case
''Select Statutes, Cases, and Documents to Illustrate English Constitutional History, 1660-1832: With a Supplement from 1832-1894'', p. 223 (Sir Charles Grant Robertson, ed., Methuen & Company, 1904). 1670 in law 1670 in England English criminal case law Legal history of England Jury nullification Juries in the United Kingdom Court of Common Pleas (England) cases

Background

Decision

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links