Jury Duty

Heeding the taped telephone instructions given a day earlier for Jury Panel "D" as in Donald to report to the Jury Assembly Room at 8:15 am, I first treasured the extra hour and a half of sleep that exercising my civic duty afforded me. Always fearful of having to park a mile away or finding myself without a chair to sit in, I planned to arrive 45 minutes early, a strategy that enabled me to secure a prime parking space I had no intention of relinquishing should my day extend beyond lunch. By 5 minutes to 8:00, I passed through the metal detectors having grown well acquainted with their idiosyncracies in over ten years of working in a state prison. I passed by a woman who expressed surprise that her cell phone was not permitted in the courtroom and boarded the elevator bound for the 4th floor where I joined a growing legion of prospective jurors holding up the walls because the Assembly Room doors had not been unlocked.

As I looked over those gathered by random selection from drivers licenses and state picture IDs, I expected to see a snapshot of the community in which I reside. To my surprise men outnumbered women 2-to-1 and minorities were disproprtionately few in number (5 or 6 out of a pool of 80-90), an observation that stood out given that better than half of the offenders I classify in prison are other than white. I would think about this often as I listened to the presiding Circuit Court Judge espouse the value of fair and impartial and a jury of one's peers during the jury selection process that came later that morning.

Five minutes late, the doors to the Assembly Room finally opened from within reminiscent of the doors opening to the castle of the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City. Emerging to greet us was Juror Coordinator and Deputy Court Clerk Betty, a short dignified woman who appeared to be in her late 40's or early 50's. After splitting us into two groups by panel letter, we were instructed to file past a desk and announce to her our name and round trip mileage. Once all had checked in and were seated, Clerk Betty invited us to partake of the coffee and water in the back of the room which she jokingly observed was "on us," the tax payer. Orientation consisted of a 20 minute video presentation hosted by ABC News legal correspondent Tim O'Brien on the role of the juror in our justice system. Following the video was an additional 5 minute clip of Clerk Betty reading to us the nuts and bolts of jury service afterwhich she previewed for us what was to follow by asking if anyone would have difficulty serving as a juror on a trial that could last over a week. Armed with renewed appreciation for the value of my service, we were marched into the courtroom where jury selection began for a day care provider charged with manslaughter in the death of a 12 week old infant while under her care.

Clerk Betty also made the point during her presentation of the savings of tax dollars whenever the mere thought of jurors assembled and waiting in the wings could itself bring parties together to reach agreement without a trial. On the surface such a claim sounds both reasonable and appealing but I am often struck working in a prison how many are committed to Corrections to serve a sentence who are non-assaultive and pose minimal risk to the community. Might more tax dollars be saved if, instead of pressuring offenders to accept pleas that may look good on the resume of a prosecutor seeking re-election, we keep such offenders in the community and on their jobs paying taxes instead of incurring the $27,000 a year it costs to house them in prison?

Because my county uses a unified jury system, one pool is available should there be a need in probate, family, district or circuit court. Following a long selection process that extended into the afternoon, I was not seated among the 14 jurors selected for the present trial. Excused for the day, I must now wait until after 5pm to place a call to see if I'll get that extra sleep and be back in the morning or if I'll be headed for another day of work.

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