facts tried by a jury in any other manner [than according to Common Law]'. ... He further observed that 'the only modes known to the common law to re-examine such facts was the granting of a new trial by the court where the issue was tried, or the award of a venire facias de novo, by the appellate court, for some error of law that had intervened in the proceedings. As common law provided, the judge could set aside (or nullify) a jury verdict when the judge decided the verdict was contrary to the evidence or the law. Common law precluded the judge from himself entering a verdict; a new trial, with a new jury, was the only course permissible. In Slocum v. New York Insurance Co. (1913), the Supreme Court upheld this rule. Later cases have undermined Slocum, but generally only when the evidence is overwhelming, or if a specific law provides narrow guidelines by which there can be no reasonable question as to the required outcome, may the court enter "judgment as a matter of law" or otherwise set aside the jury's findings. Notes References Bibliography Baicker-McKee, Steven; William M. Janssen; and John B. Corr (2008) [1997]. A Student's Guide to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Thomson West. Beeman, Richard (2009). Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution. Random House. Labunski, Richard E. (2006). James Madison and the struggle for the Bill of Rights. Oxford University Press. Levy, Leonard Williams (1995). Seasoned Judgments: The American Constitution, Rights, and History. Transaction Publishers. Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788. Simon and Schuster. Wolfram, Charles W. (1973). "The Constitutional History of the Seventh Amendment", 57 Minnesota Law Review 639, 670-71. External links Kilman, Johnny and George Costello (Eds). (2000). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation. CRS Annotated Constitution: Seventh Amendment 1791 in American politics 1791 in American law 07 Juries in the United States