My Day of Jury Service
posted by Dave Hoffman
I spent part of today earning $9 by participating in jury duty in Philadelphia’s First Judicial District. Not surprisingly, my ticket wasn’t golden after all, and I didn’t get picked. Indeed, my panel never even saw a judge, as the case pled out after a long delay. But the experience was still incredibly well-organized and professional, and surprisingly informed by psychological research:
- Paying Attention to Potential Bias: During the plea-delay, we were told that there was a “problem” in the courtroom relating to another matter. Later, a court officer sheepishly explained that he’d been lying, but said that “research had shown” that juries told that a plea was being negotiated would be unable to be free of bias should it fall through. This sounds exactly right to me. Of course, since there was no chance I’d be picked, my standing to object to the deceit is probably weak.
- The Amenities: So $9 sounds like a trifling amount, and it is. It should be replaced with a lucrative lottery. But at least Philadelphia has managed to maintain a nice building, with clean seats, snacks, coffee, a dedicated elevator for transfers between rooms, well-produced and well-intentioned civics videos, and discounts at the neighboring Reading Terminal Market for lunch. The civil staff were friendly and made jokes, some of which were funny. I’m sure that some gripe about the missing internet access, or forfeited cellphones, but this strikes me as Yuppie nonsense. To make jury service better, you should pay people more. Otherwise, give them a clean space, caffeine, and try to make sausage quicker.
It was the kind of experience that I think should have increased participants’ trust and appreciation for the civil justice system. The officers and staff of the District aren’t paid that well, and certainly don’t get compensated more for being pleasant to jurors. But they, not lawyers and judges, are the face of the justice system for the majority of citizens, who show up and don’t get picked. The System had a good day today, at least by my lights.
(And, yes, we did get out early, which probably influenced my benign views of an otherwise wasted day.)
July 7, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Posted in: Sociology of Law
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Responses (2)
Mike Zimmer - July 7, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Because the call for jury service reaches almost all walks of life, answering the call brings together in one place, for a civic duty, people who would almost never otherwise meet or talk. We do not have many such opportunities and it is a shame that jury trials, and therefore jurors, are slowly vanishing.
David S. Cohen - July 8, 2008 at 10:47 am
Dave – I’ve had two similar experiences with the Philly jury system. It’s well organized and nicely executed by very friendly and helpful people. And both times I also got out early!
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