Thursday, August 20, 2009
Jury Duty
Jury duty can be a pain. You have to go down to the courthouse, verify your paperwork and then sit around for hours waiting to be called (and hoping you're not). If you are called you get herded over to some courtroom where you are asked a bunch of questions about yourself and your beliefs (you try to keep a low profile so no one asks you questions) and then hopefully you will be excused and not have to serve. Sound familiar? A couple of friends (non lawyers) and I discussed this very topic this morning. They were upset with the amount of wasted time in the process and in some cases the attitude of the lawyers. I have been on the other side where we have waited for days to get a jury panel because not enough people showed up to serve. How can we make the process more streamlined, more pleasant and enjoyable? If you have gone to jury duty post a comment and let me know your experience good, bad or indifferent and any suggestions you have to make it better.
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1 comment:
The system does not provide the right incentives for the process to be more streamlined and efficient for all those involved. As long as lawyers can wait until the last second to settle a case, potential jurors waiting time will continue to be completely disregarded as worthless. I think lawyers, regardless of the court system (criminal or civil,) should compensate potential jurors who show up, wait, listen to instructions, wait, listen to the same instructions again, wait, and wait longer before being dismissed at the 11th hour. Paid through higher court fees, lawyers who miss the deadline of settling at least 24 hours in advance can split the court fee that is then passed on to the potential jurors. If the court fee is high enough, this practice will be minimized and thus result in lower expenses for the individuals and the court system alike. People get highly motivated to take action when a deadline approaches. Lawyers are no different. By moving their deadline up, they will make their assessment on whether to settle in advance of the deadline, within the 24 hours of trail date and pay the penalty, or after the trial starts. The downside to this proposal is that potential jurors who get selected on a panel, do not get the higher pay, which may cause resentment. By increasing your chances of being selected to a panel, potential jurors will motivated to show up and participate in the jury process and fulfill their civic duty.
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