The grand jury has been called a sword and shield for the people, but is it serving that purpose today? Two former prosecutors, Joel Cohen of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and Professor Bennett Gershman of Pace Law, debate whether today’s grand juries are bulwarks against the state and discuss how they could be reformed.

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

Learn more about Joel Cohen:
https://www.stroock.com/people/jcohen/

Learn more about Professor Bennett Gershman:
https://law.pace.edu/faculty/bennett...

Related links:

Reflecting on the Ferguson Grand Jury
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reflec...

My Morning in the Grand Jury
https://www.stroock.com/news/mymorni...

Differing views:

Grand Juries And The Lack Of Transparency
https://agrlegalservices.com/grandju...

Do We Need Grand Juries?
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/18/op...

Interactive Constitution: Grand Juries and the Fifth Amendment
https://constitutioncenter.orgblog/in...

The Grand Jury Farce
https://reason.com/2010/12/30/thegra...