South CarolinaJury Nullification
South Carolina's constitution says judges shall not charge juries in respect to matters of fact, but shall declare the law. It sets a jury of twelve in the Circuit Court. It also says all jurors in any trial court must agree to a verdict. The standard criminal jury charges are published by the South Carolina Bar.
Overview
Juries in South Carolina
South Carolina settles it in its constitution, in one sentence addressed to judges. Judges shall not charge juries in respect to matters of fact, but shall declare the law. The facts are left to the jury.
The same article of the constitution sets a jury of twelve in the Circuit Court and says all jurors in any trial court must agree to a verdict. What else that article says, about grand juries and about who can serve, is in the South Carolina chapter of the guide.
The standard charges a South Carolina judge reads are published by the South Carolina Bar, and a full copy can be read free on the Attorney General's site. What they tell a jury about accepting the law, and how often they say it, is in the chapter.
The South Carolina chapter
What's in the Guide for South Carolina?
Jury selection
How many jurors sit in which South Carolina court, the one qualification for jurors the constitution itself sets, and how the intimidation law reaches a person who has only been called.
What the judge tells you
The chapter says where South Carolina's standard charges can be read free, and it explains the sentence of the constitution that tells a judge what to say and what to leave alone.
How the verdict works
What it means that all jurors in any South Carolina trial court must agree, and how the constitution words that rule.
Protections and risks
What South Carolina law says about using threats or force against a juror or a possible juror, and which means of pressure that law names.
The law in plain English
The South Carolina laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the sections of the constitution on the judge's charge, on the size of the jury and the agreement of all jurors, and on the rights of the accused, with the law on intimidating court officials, jurors and witnesses.
Official state resources
Links to South Carolina's official sources, each one checked. They cover the code and constitution on the legislature's site, the Judicial Branch's court rules, the free copy of the criminal charges on the Attorney General's site, and the Judicial Branch's Juror Information page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in South Carolina?
A South Carolina jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to decide the facts of a case. The constitution leaves the law to the judge.
The South Carolina Judicial Branch has a Juror Information page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What the constitution tells a judge not to do, what it means that every juror must agree, and what the law says about threats against a juror are covered in the South Carolina chapter of the guide.
Your South Carolina summons
- Sent byThe county clerk of court
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, decide the facts of a case
- Jury size12 (Circuit Court); the number in other courts is set by law