Tag Archives: jury duty

Obama excused from jury duty

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Jury duty: it is one of Americans’ important civic duties. When called, you are expected to show up at a courthouse on an assigned date, prepared to serve on a trial that could take hours or days, and in rare cases, weeks.

One can request an exemption due to hardship – though you’ll need a good excuse. It seems one Cook County, Illinois, juror, Barack Obama, has one. He was called to serve in his home state this week, but being president of the United States and having his first State of the Union speech on Wednesday means he is pretty busy at the moment. The White House says Obama alerted the court earlier that he would be unable to attend.

For more on the American jury system, see Anatomy of a Jury.

Race and Judgment

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View of a courtroom from a jury boxSeveral years ago, my mother was selected to serve on a jury considering the case of a black man accused of assaulting a white police officer and resisting arrest. The police officer was originally trying to arrest a different man; the defendant claimed he had become frightened while witnessing the arrest and had merely brushed against the officer accidentally in trying to leave the scene, whereupon the officer had arrested him as well.

During the voir dire process, the lawyers for both sides closely questioned potential jurors – especially those who were white or black – looking for possible racial bias against the police officer or the defendant.  When my mother, an Asian-American woman, came up for consideration, both sides immediately chose her to serve on the jury.  An Asian-American woman would be impartial when judging a case between a black man and a white one, they reasoned. When the final jury was assembled, the rest of the jurors apparently agreed with the lawyers’ opinion, as they elected my mother their forewoman.

Is it appropriate to take the color of a person’s skin into consideration during jury selection? Or should lawyers focus only on potential jurors’ stated opinions and record of behavior? Do you believe a person’s race could affect his or her ability to judge others fairly?

(For those who wonder, the jury found the defendant guilty of assault, but not of resisting arrest.)

My Civic Duty

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[guest name="Corey Hewitt" biography="Corey Hewitt works for the Department of Health and Human Services and is a resident of Washington, D.C. He describes his recent experience being called for jury duty."]

A jury box in a U.S. courtroom.Most people dread a summons for jury duty.  It’s usually seen as an interruption of normal daily life. But for me, jury duty seemed like a break from my normal, hectic routine. 

I was at the court house well ahead of my 8:00 a.m. required arrival time, early enough to avoid any long security lines at the entrance.  I checked in and was told to wait in the jurors’ lounge, a room with five televisions playing a morning news program.  I was also given two information sheets: one for emergency evacuations, the other with common questions and answers. 

There was also a business office for jurors to use – only three others were there when I checked it out.  It was very quiet in the room with eight desks, a copier/fax machine, wireless and modem Internet access.  Actually, all juror waiting areas featured wireless Internet. I’m a people watcher, so the business office felt too secluded for me. 

After a while, everyone was called into the lounge for a briefing.  The briefing was a 20-minute slide show.  It explained what to do if you had conflicts that would prevent serving as a juror and also gave details of the selection process and appropriate juror behavior and actions.

After the briefing, a clerk put on a movie, “The Net.”  Five minutes into the movie, I started thinking about going back to the business office.  The clearing of throats, coughing, various smells and a man talking on his cell phone despite a no-cell-phones-in-the-lounge rule, were all getting on my nerves.   “Sir, you’re supposed to go out to the hall,” I told him.  He replied with “yeah, I get it” as he stood up and walked out.

After a little more than two hours, a long list of jurors was called for a panel (my name not included on the list.)  They were told to meet in the hall for further instruction.  Why were they chosen?  Why wasn’t I chosen?  Where are they going?  What are they doing?  What trials might they get to hear? I wanted to know!

Next movie for our waiting entertainment was “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.  Four and a half hours into the juror selection waiting process, the movie got interrupted by an announcement that there will be another panel selection.  We were instructed that if our name and jury number were called, to meet in the hall for further instructions. I heard my name!  I was excited, thinking this would be my chance to at least be considered!

As instructed, we waited in the hall.  I’ve always wanted to be on a jury, to personally see our judicial system at work.  I was excited and hoping that I would make it through the selection process and be able to sit on a trial, fulfilling my civic duty. But then the clerk announced that we were free to leave.

Many people were happy with the announcement.  I wondered if there was anyone else that felt the disappointment I did.  Although I wasn’t selected, I have to trust that the jury selection process has enabled the trials held today to have jurors with open minds, honest opinions and fair observations.

For more information on the U.S. judicial system, see Anatomy of a Jury Trial.