Vested Interest February 2024

I am writing this column on President’s Day, sort of appropriate for something called The President’s Page, is it not? In modern times we celebrate all the U.S. Presidents on this one day, but as a child I remember we had Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12th and George Washington’s birthday on February 22nd. Through the celebrations of these two heroes’ birthdays, I learned about the Civil War, the American Revolution, and of course, to never tell a lie about chopping down a cherry tree. I’m sure you have similar memories.

For this President’s Day, I think about President James Madison, who wrote the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”
 

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