america's favorite f-words: "founding fathers"

[rone]

Amendment VII

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 reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

The question i have is, what does twenty 1789 dollars come out to be in today's currency?

Oh, and another question: why twenty dollars?

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

That article does explain the origins of some features of US civil trials that I hadn't thought much about before, such as the way that judges will hand down court orders on their own authority after the jury gives a verdict.