I heard my name announced. My heart raced. The bailiff called out, Seat 5. I stepped into the jury box and headed to Seat #5.
Sound like I was having a nightmare? Only if youre caught in the bad end of the criminal justice system. Or the plaintiff in a civil suit that isnt going well. In this case the plaintiff glanced my way as I took my seat and smiled fleetingly. Was she trying to butter me up?
My mind flashed to the scenes of the Florida George Zimmerman trial for the death of Trayvon Martin that filled every motel room TV on our vacation in July. So this is what it felt like to be in a real courtroom hearing a real case. I can only imagine the intense emotions in that bellwether case.
Im not trying to be overly dramatic but truly seeing the court room process from the inside was eye opening for a couple of reasons. Even just in a jury pool, I learned a lot.
The first thing I learned is not to throw away an envelope from your local court or whatever its called in your area. Quickly going through junk mail, it would be easy to do. The envelope didnt shout Jury summons but I vaguely recalled getting a letter sometime last year informing me that my name was being put in the pool for jury service and then forgot about it.
Dont forget about it. And no, I didnt throw it away but I easily could have (although I dont make a practice of doing so without opening something official looking) but the thing that grabbed me was it came the day after we got back from vacation. If it had arrived while I was having our mail held at the post office, I could have very well missed the first reporting time. I could have been fined $200.
The court clerk said, We take court appearances very seriously, and that the judge wouldnt hesitate to assess a fine if he thought your reason for not showing up was not good enough. She also reminded everyone that shorts were not acceptable; you are supposed to dress appropriately for court. No hats for men. They also pointed out the difference between a civil lawsuit and a criminal lawsuit. The website Findlaw.com explains it this way:
Crimes must generally be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, whereas civil cases are proved by lower standards of proof such as the preponderance of the evidence (which essentially means that it was more likely than not that something occurred in a certain way)...civil liability is considered less blameworthy and...the punishments are less severe.
But on to more important learnings. I learned what kinds of things would get you struck from the jury pool for any a particular lawsuit, including self-doubt about your objectivity in a case, and just how tricky those kinds of self-examinations could be when conducted with the eyes of the court on you (even though the other jurors had been excused when the judge cross examined me about how seriously I felt my friends and relatives experiences in nursing homes could affect my opinion on one lawsuit involving a nursing home). Im sure the defensive attorney struck my name as a result of my waffling. I would have.
I wouldnt have minded serving, just for the experience, but didnt want to be on the case if I was unduly prejudiced. On the other hand, I had a lot of work waiting back at the office. If I overplayed my self-doubt, I would be free to walk out and tackle my long to-do list after returning from vacation. See how subtle these things are? How do you truly get a jury with the best intentions and the best ability to decide a case?
I never ended up being selected on any of the three days I had to actually go to court, and the duty was mostly a lot of calling the clerks office to listen to the recording for the next court date and whether my name was on the list.
My sister also recently served on a jury for a felony drug crime and although she felt in her heart the person committed the crime, in the end there was not enough evidence for the conviction. The whole jury swung from being convinced the person was guilty, to feeling like the evidence left a shadow of a doubt. What would it feel like to set a person free, condemn them to life in prison or death, or to know a victims family had their lives shattered forever? Heavy duties.
On our vacation we had the opportunity to visit the legendary former U.S. penitentiary on Alcatraz Island off of San Francisco. It was a mind-jarring experience because of the way they let you listen to actual former prisoners and guards as you take an audio tour, but I was pleased and a little surprised to find that one of the exhibits there now included information on restorative justice as an alternate to the typical criminal justice system. What is the best way for people to resume their lives as victims, or family victims? Sometimes finding another way to restore justice can mean taking a different tack that digs at the underlying problems in why systems fail and people mess up. (Just google Alcatraz restorative justice exhibit by Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies of Fresno Pacific University and it will take you to a Facebook album where you can see the items on exhibit there.)
My three days in court were well worth the time they took in terms of closer learning about the criminal justice system.
Have you served on a jury? What was your experience? Email me at melodied@mennomedia.org or Another Way, Box 22, Harrisonburg, VA 22803.
Another Way is a column from MennoMedia by Melodie Davis. She is the author of nine books, most recently Whatever Happened to Dinner and has written Another Way since 1987. She also keeps a blog at www.FindingHarmonyBlog.com.
