Jury on Trial

I spent one day at the San Mateo Country Courthouse for jury duty, and am terribly disturbed by the way jurors are treated. Instead of thanking us for our civic service, we were treated as though we did something wrong. From the first entrance into the building, past guards and through metal detectors, to our release several hours later, I felt that I was in prison. In fact, my time working at San Quentin prison was much more pleasant!

First, we entered a large, windowless room and were lectured to by a woman who was the incarnation of the worst elementary school teacher you’ve ever had. She talked down to us, dismissed legitimate questions, and doled out information in such tiny bites that it was impossible to know what was going on.

Second, they acted as though we all wanted to get out of being there. That just isn’t the case. There are many people, including me, who support the jury system and are happy to serve our community. In fact, I served on a jury for 10 weeks many years ago. It wasn’t fun, but it was fascinating to watch the process unfold. I would have been happy to serve on another jury for a few days. It offers a window into another world.

Third, they were phenomenally rude to those who had real reasons to be excused. While in the large waiting room, an older man raised his hand and asked if he could be excused be cause he was “very sick.” The woman in charge snapped back at him, “Tell it to the judge.” Honestly, is that how you talk to someone who is sick? And, do you want a sick person sitting there in the middle of the room with everyone else?

It is terribly disturbing that this is how they treat innocent people who have followed instructions and showed up on time for jury duty. It was clear that many people in the room had to go to great lengths to be there, given their work and family obligations, health problems, and other limitations.

Here are a few ideas for ways to improve the system… Some are easy, some are harder, and some are kind of nutty. But, I’ve learned that wild ideas are often the seeds of something truly interesting.

1. Super Easy — Change the tone! Start out by thanking everyone for their service. Acknowledge that it is a hardship for some people.
2. Easy — Provide more information. Tell potential jurors what is happening and what to expect. Provide an estimate of the time frame for the day. This could be done using a digital scoreboard showing what is happening in the courtroom while they are waiting.
3. Easy — Don’t lecture. There are a set of instructions. Please hand them out on a piece of paper, or show them on a screen. Ask if there are any questions. There is no need to drone on with a lecture that we could easily absorb at our own pace.
4. Medium — Provide a way for those with hardships to be excused. Let people go to a website, or to call in, to report a hardship. Even if you signed up for jury duty months ago, something critical could have happened. Be reasonable and humane.
5. Medium — Get information about availability of jurors in advance. Allow people to go to a website and sign up to serve on trials of different lengths. This way people could clear their calendar for a known amount of time to serve on a trial. Just as you plan for a vacation, you could plan for a week of jury duty.
6. Medium — Minimize waiting time by having smaller numbers of people come in at a time. The courtrooms appear to deal with groups of 60 at a time. Why have several hundred people waiting for hours?
7. Medium — Require people to serve a particular amount of time within a 10 year period. Let each person decide when that will be. There are some times in our lives that are more hectic than others. Let us pick a time that is more convenient.
8. Medium — Educate people about the courtroom process in an interesting/entertaining way. This could be done with a mock trial.
9. Medium —Upgrade the space, please! The courthouse is dark and dingy. Find some ways to brighten it up. Of course, it would be terribly expensive to build a new building, but it is pretty easy to paint the wall and add artwork.
10. Crazy idea — Use the waiting time to get to know other community members. Use this forum for productive engagement with those from different parts of our very diverse country.
11. Crazy idea — Use the waiting time for short talks on interesting topics. TEDxJury Room
12. Crazy idea — Meet with a lawyer for free legal advice. The lawyers are probably waiting around, too. Perhaps they would be happy to offer free office hours to potential jurors.
13. Crazy idea — Goodie bags for jurors with coupons from local businesses
14. Crazy idea — Put in a spa… Get a massage or pedicure while you wait. If there are spas at airports, why not the jury waiting room.

Feel free to chime in with your ideas!