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PBS News Hour

Why jury trials are becoming less common

A new analysis of federal court cases published last week by The New York Times shows that jury trials are becoming increasingly less common. In 1997, 3,200 out of 63,000 federal defendants were convicted in jury trials. But by 2015, even as the number of defendants grew to 81,000, jury convictions dropped to 1,650. Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times joins William Brangham from Maine.

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