Sunday, April 12, 2015

I like jury duty

I've been spending the last couple of days on Federal jury duty -- or sitting in a waiting room seeing whether I'll serve or not. 

Outside, I've had some discussions about the wisdom of the system. Should justice really be served by "the people" or aren't professionals better suited to deciding on questions of innocence and guilt? 

Without weighing in on that exact question - jury duty did impress me for two functions it serves.

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Jury duty was taken seriously. It is clearly a place where law and process are deeply respected. After postponing several times, I really had to show up-- and so did many others. And each person was accounted for, papers filled out, procedures explained. For lunch we were dismissed, when we returned they checked us in, and before we were dismissed in the evening again. A film was shown to us about the procedure featuring Chief Justice Robertson, Sandra Day O'Conner and others.

Since my recent trip to Haiti, a functioning system of rule of law and the general perception that - as a rule - justice will be served, feels more important than ever. Without that most fundamental trust in government- how can anything else be built? Police, army, taxes, traffic.... 

In Haiti, we were told that the only experience many people have of their government is getting in random trouble with the law. And there is no sense of justice there- it is rather haphazard. 

Without that basic fundament, trust does not exist with government and the people are left to their own devices, whether to get an education or drive in traffic without lights or deal with crime.

Clearly, with the recent failures to prosecute major crimes here in our country and the suspicion of prejudice at play-- it is clear again to all that our system of justice can be unfair too. That's a perception that wide swaths of our population have felt keenly for a very long time.

(Re)gaining that trust is paramount. 

And so it was at least nice for me to see how seriously the jury process is taken. I especially appreciated the lovely demeanor of the people with whom I interacted. So different from the sometimes almost abusive demeanor I've experienced at other government agencies with people who hold power over me. At jury duty, there is a kind, humorous, but also sincere face of the government and law.

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What I think is really missing in our society are places where diverse people sit together and engage in conversations that are important because they have real consequences.

The opportunity of getting a jury together to do just this -- and to insist on unanimity -- hit me again as extraordinary. 

And why shouldn't such a group rise to the challenge of meting out justice? 

The experience reminded me of a book I finished recently extolling the virtues of "slow democracy"-- in essence, just this: the ability of a community to come together in deliberation and reflection and decision making. The book lamented how America's great virtue of grassroots democratic activism has been subverted by "experts" and professionals at every turn, disenfranchising the people not only from decisions made that affect them, but also from a key reason to be with and understand each other.

I buy the argument and from that perspective, embraced jury duty as a chance to engage in real, meaningful democratic practice. 

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And to top it off, cell phones were prohibited in the waiting room. Unexpectedly, the days have taken on an almost meditative quality, without the hectic frantic pace of constant exchange. And with the addition of books and a bit of time to reflect. And so I like jury duty for that reason too.

... Did I mention it's right near Chinatown?