Posted by concertman under
Social Observations 1 Comment
Although I was not selected to serve on the jury I count it as a good experience. I learned a lot about how our justice system works. Like I thought that civil trials did not have a jury, but they do. I also learned that for the amount of time that people spend in court rooms they are not comfortable places. While it was decorated in early old stuff with wooden seats, it was kind of a neat design (for something that was built in the 1930’s).
My biggest observation was the multicultural cross section of people that were to juror along with me. At the beginning there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 people that were waiting to be called for approx. 5 cases.
Anyway, while actually in the courtroom with the judge and lawyers, we were questioned about our worthiness to serve this trial. This is where the cultural difference came out. As one juror stated during our recess (which was void of any playground equipment), “This feels like a group therapy session.” And honestly it did. I heard more people air their dirty laundry than I had ever cared to know. What was most surprising was the number of people that had be directly affected by a major criminal act such as murder, assault, and domestic violence. I would say that at least one third of the people in the jury pool I was in had a direct association, through personal experience or immediate family member, had direct experience with violent crime. That is much higher than I would have thought. I guess my sort of sheltered life has lead to that. It was a huge eye opener I will say.
As far as serving on the jury, I’m not sure if I was really ready to decide whether someone was guilty of murder in the second. To see and hear the graphic nature of the crime and see what humanity is unfortunately capable of. To decide if someone should spend the rest of their life locked away, distanced from their family and friends. Whether or not they were deserving of that sentence, it is a tough thing to come to grips with knowing that you have decided that someone is not fit to be a member of society anymore.
With the rise in violent crime over the last 100 years we all must stop and take an extremely deep look at what we can do to affect change. What can we do, one person at a time, to cut the need for those as jurors to condemn someone to a solitary life away from society. Is there one person you know that you can help change their course?
