This week I did something I’ve never done before – I served as a member of a jury on a criminal trial. I have been called for jury duty a number of times over the years but was never picked to sit on a jury. I guess I figured I just wasn’t the type of person that defense and/or prosecution lawyers wanted deciding their cases, so I was a little surprised to hear my name called.
But this time it was called, and I thought I might relate some of my thoughts on the experience for your reading pleasure.
- This was my first visit to the “new” Houston County court facility and I have to say that it is a huge improvement over the cramped, aging structure in downtown Perry that I visited in my previous calls to jury service. There was plenty of parking outside the building and the inside was spacious and climate-controlled, luxuries not afforded to visitors at the old facility. Hats off to everyone who helped make this new and much-improved courthouse a reality, including the judge who issued a court order to light a fire under our local government to get to work on it.
- I would have to say that every employee I had dealings with during the process of serving on a jury – guards, bailiffs, lawyers, judges, and everyone else – were capable, conscientious, polite, and even entertaining on occasion. I have never had a better experience interfacing with any branch of our government.
- I have a very different perspective on our legal system after being involved with it so directly. Of course I was familiar with concepts such as a presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right to have one’s fate decided by an impartial jury, but it’s quite another thing to see them put into practice by real live flesh and blood people. I am more grateful than ever to live in a country where the state does not have the right to deprive its citizens of their freedom until they have proven they have just cause to do so to a group of people who don’t have a personal interest in the outcome.
- Our justice system was designed by some very smart people and I don’t believe it could be improved very much. However, even the best system breaks down if all the people involved are not competent and motivated to do their jobs. When people rave about how our justice system is “broken” they are placing the blame in the wrong place. When the system fails it is because somebody somewhere dropped the ball.
- As far as my experience in the jury room goes, it was more stressful and nerve-racking than I could have imagined. There is a great deal of responsibility involved in playing a part in deciding whether or not another human being gets sent to prison. And on top of that, you have to come to a unanimous agreement with 11 other individuals on just where the truth lies in circumstances where there will almost certainly be some room for doubt on either side.
Frankly, I understand better than I did before why a lot of people would prefer to avoid jury duty if they can. However, as the judge reminded us at the beginning of our service, we have to ask ourselves if it was us or a close friend or family member who was on trial, or who had been a victim of someone who was on trial, would we think it was worth someone’s time to listen to the evidence and render a fair and carefully considered decision on the charges in question? And if the answer to that question is yes, is it fair to expect other citizens to take up that burden is we aren’t willing to do the same when we are called?
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