The grand jury at the federal level has had a troubled history. Required by the Constitution as a check on judicial and prosecutorial abuse, it has often been used as a tool of abuse against political dissidents. Most grand juries are mere "rubber stamps" for prosecutors, but others become "runaway" grand juries, taking the lead in investigations of official corruption and abuse.

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  1. HTML Version or Menu Text Version The Grand Jury, George J. Edwards (1906) — Classic treatise on the grand jury, unequalled to this day.
  2. HTML Version or Menu Text Version Let's Revive Private Criminal Prosecutions — by Jon Roland. Calls for use of private prosecutors in cases of public corruption and abuse where public prosecutors unwilling to prosecute.
  3. HTML Version or Menu Text Version Brief on Private Prosecutions — Provides cites for recent cases involving use of private prosecutors. Can be authorized by grand jury returning bill of indictment to petitioner seeking to conduct a private criminal prosecution.
  4. HTML Version or Menu Fixing the Grand Jury, Jon Roland — Overview of the issues.
  5. HTML Version or Menu U.S. Grand Jury Standards, Jon Roland — Specification for a grand jury system to comply with original understanding of the U.S. Constitution.
  6. HTML Version or Menu Text Version Opening the Grand Jury, Jon Roland — What you can do to return grand jury practice to what it was intended to be.
  7. HTML Version or Menu Text Version If It's Not a Runaway, It's Not a Real Grand Jury, Roger Roots, Creighton L.R., Vol. 33, No. 4, 1999-2000, 821 — Examines constitutional issues involved in current practices involving grand juries.
  8. HTML Version or Menu Federal Grand Juries
  9. HTML Version or Menu State Grand Juries
  10. HTML Version or Menu Runaway Grand Juries
  11. HTML Version or Menu Reform Grand Juries
  12. Remote Link - HTML Federal Grand Jury — Collection at the U. of Dayton of grand jury materials, published by Susan Brenner and Greg Lockhart. Describes current actual practice, not what constitutional practice would be.
  13.  Federal Grand Jury Handbook
  14. HTML Version or Menu General Grand Jury Links
  15. Remote Link - HTML Representation of Witnesses Before Federal Grand Juries, by Robert J. Boyle — This 2-volume publication of the Grand Jury Project of the National Lawyers Guild is a primary reference on the subject. Written for lawyers, it is also valuable for laypersons. Available from Clark Boardman Callaghan, 155 Pfingsten Road, Deerfield, IL 60015, 800/323-1336.
  16. Remote Link - HTML Grand Juries — Material from Andrew D. Liepold
  17. Remote Link - PDF PDF Version A Grand Façade: How the Grand Jury Was Captured by Government, by W. Thomas Dillard, Stephen R. Johnson, and Timothy Lynch (Cato Policy Study, May 13, 2003).
  18. Remote Link - HTML Federal Grand Jury Reform Report and Bill of Rights — Sponsored by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Proposals are too timid but reflect an estimate of how much one group thinks might be attainable in the near term.
  19. Remote Link - HTML Remote Link - HTML Restoring the Grand Jury, Kevin K. Washburn — Argues for empaneling grand juries on the neighborhood level.

Grand Jury Reform Groups

  • Remote Link - HTML The County Grand Jury — Works to help county grand juries do their duty.
  • Remote Link - HTML Fully Informed Grand Jurors Alliance (FIGJA) — Works to help grand juries do their duty.
  • Remote Link - HTML California Grand Jurors' Association— Mostly composed of former grand jurors, who seek reform of the grand jury system.
  • Remote Link - HTML American Grand Jury Foundation (AGJF) — Encourages responsible and effective interventions by grand jurors and other citizens into local government affairs.
  • Remote Link - HTML J.A.I.L. (Judicial Accountability Initiative Law) for Judges — Seek punitive measures for judicial misconduct.
  • Remote Link - HTML Defend Rural America: Grand Juries — Subsite on this subject.

Grand Jury Discussion Forums

  1. Grand_Jury. To [un]subscribe, send message to Grand_Jury-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. — Discussion of grand jury issues. Moderated.
  2. grandjury. To [un]subscribe, send message to grandjury-subscribe@googlegroups.com. — Discussion of grand jury issues. Unmoderated.