Doing your duty as a citizen shouldn’t put you in the poor house. So, just how do the courts expect the average citizen to put aside all financial obligations, and make good their civic responsibility? Going to the mailbox one bright and beautiful day can suddenly turn into a nightmare of epic proportions after opening that outwardly cryptic letter from your local courthouse, summoning (not requesting) you for service in a jury. You can forget the stylized, Hollywood version of jury duty with late night deliberations eating Chinese food and mulling over recently gleaned facts heard throughout the day in the courtroom. Instead you should expect long, boring days filled with expert witnesses rambling on about hard-to- understand blood patterns, and technical facts that you will never understand nor comprehend; followed by even longer nights alone in a hotel room, with absolutely no outside contact because (after all) you are sequestered. All this pretty much means that the court owns you for however long the trial will last. Now, I’m all for doing my civic duty, and helping out where I can, but todays version of “Jury Duty” is nothing more than mandatory service, and to make it even more appealing for us all to line up outside the local courthouse begging for jury duty; they will pay you!
Before you get all worked up and have to take your blood pressure medicine, you should know that the courts’ idea of payment, aka “compensation”, is completely different than what you might have in mind. For example, I live in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, where jury duty “compensation” is only a mere $25 per day. That was not a typo; it really is only $25 a day! Heck, that won’t even cover my gas for two days of driving to and from the courthouse (about $0.16 a mile!) if I’m not sequestered; much less cover my daily expenses. Take my parents for example, my father works two jobs to make ends meet, pay down my mothers medical bills and surgeries and be able to live relatively comfortable. They’re not poor by any means, but not rich either. So having to appear and serve in a jury could, for him, be a very stressful process. He is losing way more than $25 per day by not being able to work at the two said jobs. How then is a man (or woman, after all it is 2011) supposed to take care of his/her financial obligations, without going into immediate debt, even more so should the trial drag horrendously along for multiple weeks? Now you may be thinking, “He could always sign a book deal, recalling everything that happened during said trial”, but I shall ask you, how many past jurors have garnered major book deals after a generic, average trial? Not that many I can tell you. It has been difficult enough attempting to start a career in journalism, without the friendly help of my neighborhood court system, much less after sitting through a trial of epic length regarding some local man with a criminal history spanning back to the days of our dear and beloved J.F.K. At the very least the courts should ask for the two most recent pay stubs, and reimburse you (at a minimum) half of your regular pay. I mean, would that not be the fair thing to do? I mean, aren’t the court systems in this country based on principles of fairness? Couldn’t they at least help you remain afloat, after all, it’s not like you have a choice in the matter. I have often heard people liken jury duty to service in the military, yet coming from a heavily military family I can tell you that the two are nothing alike. With the military, you willingly sign your life over (unless you’re drafted), but with pay that is more than decent and great benefits to boot.
What to do now, you ask? Well, it’s quite simple, write your local judge, representative, congressman/woman, sheriff or barber, and let’s get something done about this grave injustice! How can they expect us to stay financially stable, while being mandated to sit in a courtroom, yet the judge, lawyers, bailiffs, and court reporters are all getting a REAL paycheck, not a mere $25 per day?! It’s time we change this; if we, as citizens, have no input as to whether or not we want to be involved. Write, complain and voice your opinions, for that is the only real way we can make a change! Be proud to be involved with your local community and courts, for that is what makes this nation so wonderful. We should be able to be just as proud to take a nice check to the bank, courtesy of your local courthouse! This country was founded on men and women standing up for what they deemed “fair” and “deserved”, so why should we expect any less from our local justice system! So next time you’re loitering around at your local country club, and happen to run across your local judge or sheriff sipping a Mai-Tai, do us a favor and ask for all the jurors in your county/parish to get a raise (or at least for a free Mai Tai).