Filling The Role Essential To System

Most of us lead busy lives. We have jobs to go to, kids to raise, spouses to nurture and maybe an infirm relative or neighbor to look out for. It all adds up. We have very little free time.

So when a summons for jury duty arrives it’s not necessarily a welcome piece of news. For some of us our first thought is how can I get out of this?

In Spokane County less than a third of those called for jury duty actually show up to serve. Spokane County isn’t alone. In fact, this statistic is right in line with the national average when it comes to recruiting potential jurors.

And that’s a problem.

Such a low response undercuts the whole concept of a jury trial.

Officials in Washington state realize that the more people who report for jury duty, the better the justice system works. To impress upon citizens the important role they play when they are jurors, Gov. Gary Locke declared this Washington Juror Appreciation Week.

One of the cornerstones of our justice system is the right to a trial before a jury of one’s peers. The founders of our country took such great stock in this idea that they embedded it in the Constitution.

Even hundreds of years ago, questions of law weren’t always easy to decide. Early leaders trusted that a jury of people just like those before the court were best suited to make a fair decision.

The system still makes sense. Jurors still are a critical component in the success or failure of the justice system.

And for better or worse, we live in the most litigious society on the planet. Many of us will be involved in one way or another in a civil or criminal case at some point in our lives. Certainly, most of us would want to have people like ourselves in the jury box when we have our day in court.

Yet, when too many citizens opt out of their civic duty, finding a jury of one’s peers becomes more difficult.

Sometimes, there are good reasons to forgo jury duty. No one wants a juror who is distracted by personal matters, just plain disinterested or too ill to serve. But it is unlikely that more than two thirds of those called for jury duty fall into these categories.

The pay is low. Spokane County pays just $10 a day plus mileage to its jurors. This is no incentive for working people to serve unless employers are willing to do their civic duty by continuing to pay employees who are in the jury pool.

Jury duty is no glamour job. Serving is often just one more job to juggle in our busy schedules. Even during a trial, there’s a fair amount of waiting around.

But even minor court cases are sometimes fascinating. And most cases last no more than a couple of days. In most instances, the inconvenience is a small price to pay to ensure our courts run smoothly and deal fairly with those before it.

Our courts are dependent on citizen participation. When we shirk our civic duty, we chip away at the foundation of our justice system.