Thomas Jefferson, Ambassador to France, in a letter to Abbe Arnoux, explains the importance of Juries to act as a check against the unbridled passions of judges and to ensure justice:

       But we all know that permanent judges acquire an Esprit de corps, that being known they are liable to be tempted by bribery, that they are misled by favor, by relationship, by a spirit of party, by a devotion to the Executive or Legislative. … It is left therefore to the juries, if they think the permanent judges are under any biass [sic] whatever in any cause, to take upon themselves to judge the law as well as the fact.  They never exercise this power but when they suspect partiality in the judges, and by the exercise of this power they have been the firmest bulwarks of English liberty. 

       [added 12/14/2024]