Jury duty: An opportunity to participate in a great American experience

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What’s worse than opening up that dreaded blue or yellow piece of paper from your local district courthouse summoning you to skip work to hang out at jury duty? Unfortunately, many Americans dread jury duty and try their hardest to come up with a creative excuse to get out of it. Despite its negative reputation, jury duty can actually be a valuable and potentially enjoyable experience. Jurors in non-legal professions get to learn about the American judiciary system first hand. The active participation takes conventional learning a step further. People from all different walks of life are called at random to take part in this great American right and privilege. Through their jury service, citizens enforce the sixth amendment of the Bill of Rights that gives Americans the right to trial by jury. By following the instructions of the judge you get to decide the verdict of a criminal or civil case. You cannot get more involved than that without a law degree.

The majority of people summoned will get released from service before they even have to show up. This is because many cases get settled outside of court. You can either be summoned for grand jury, which consists of deciding whether or not a case has “probable cause” to be given a trial, or petit jury, meaning an actual jury trial either civil or criminal. If you are one of the lucky ones who makes it into the jury commissioner’s office, you get the opportunity to serve your country while learning about the judicial system. This will be an experience that you will never forget.

Once your panel makes it to court, you can expect to receive a brief education about how the trials occur and more specifically your role and responsibilities in the courtroom. You may receive a packet to read, watch a short video, or listen to a presentation by the jury commissioner. There will be some waiting involved so it’s a good idea to bring a book or magazine to fill any dead time.

When the judge calls the jury to the courtroom, your responsibilities begin. The voir dire process, informally known as jury selection, begins right away to get down to the proper number of jurors needed for the case. This process is one of the most exciting procedures in a trial. It is interesting to compare the questioning styles of the two different attorneys. Every attorney has a slightly different approach for choosing the jury depending on the situation of the case.

Another potential benefit of jury duty is creating bonds with other jurors. Who knows you might even meet your potential spouse or your new best friend at jury duty! According to the deputy commissioner himself, many jurors end up building relationships with each other through their shared experience in the courthouse. The jurors are not allowed to talk about the case outside of the courtroom or do any outside research the parties involved. All of the jurors go through this experience together. The jury is responsible for deciding a person’s fate, whether is a murderer or a menial civil defendant, this is nothing to be shirked.

Throughout this journey you are able to learn new things about one another and hopefully yourself. You get to live out your American citizenship to a greater degree. Jury duty is not about missing work or wasting time but rather about participating in the great American experience. Why reduce this experience to a mere civic obligation? Consider it a privilege the next time you get that blue or yellow summons. Get excited about this privilege: Uncle Sam and you fellow citizens will thank you.

A political science major and economics minor at Providence College, Class of 2016, Kristine Bucci completed an internship at the Jury Commissioner’s office at the Gov. Philip W. Noel Courthouse this past summer. She is a graduate of LaSalle Academy.

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