Jury Duty

The last couple of days I've been on jury duty. It wasn't the first time in my life I've done it, but the last time I was only 21. This time I did not get selected for a jury. I came close to getting on a jury for a burglary case, but was dismissed on a peremptory challenge. A peremptory challenge is a challenge that may be used by the attorneys to reject a certain number of prospective jurors without giving a reason. They don't tell you which attorney challenged you, and they don't tell you why. But I think it was the defense attorney who decided to let me go.

First the judge, and then the attorneys ask a bunch of questions of the jurors as a group. The prosecutor had thrown out the question of why any of us might like the American system of justice better than others in the world. I answered that question by saying something about how "we get to hear from both sides." What I meant was that the defendant gets to have his or her say. In so many countries there is no defending yourself and there are no trials. They just throw you in prison and throw away the key. So I should have said "both sides get to have their say" which is different from "we get to hear from both." The defense attorney expressed a concern about my statement because of the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof which is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt someone's guilt. The defense attorney thought I was saying that I EXPECTED to hear from the defense and that I thought there was an obligation for the defense to put on witnesses, exhibits, etc. Of course there is no such obligation and that's not what I meant. She made a big deal out of it though, taking the jurors through various scenarios to illustrate her point. And in the end I was excused. :)

Some people really don't like it when they get called for jury duty because it's inconvenient to stop their lives and set aside everything else for something unexpected like that. But if I were a defendant I would want the most fair, open minded, smartest people there judging me and making those important decisions that would affect my life. Not just someone who happened to be between jobs or something. It's an important civic duty and it's a good and educational experience to go through.