My Jury Duty

Throughout the world, citizen participation in the justice system can mean different things.  In France, there is the "Cour d'assises" which brings citizens in for input in certain cases.  When the Ukraine declared independence from the former Soviet Union, this meant drawing up a new constitution.  This document declared the right of their citizens to have a trial by jury.  In a different system, the South Africans, have moved away from trials by jury and instead they rely on a judge and two officials called assessors. When I received a letter from the United States government in black bold-faced print saying "JURY SUMMONS" I knew just what that meant as a citizen of the United States.

The United States Government calls its' citizens to make themselves available to join a group of twelve randomly selected individuals to listen to a civil or criminal case, study the evidence and render a verdict of guilt or innocence. Lawyers on both sides of the case will fight vigorously to present their cases, with the judge acting as the impartial coordinator of the trial.  There is also another jury called the "grand jury" which operates slightly differently.  Here we have a group of people looking at evidence to see if the government has a valid reason to bring a person or company to trial.

Jury duty, as it was envisioned by the founders of the United States, was meant to be a system of "checks and balances" on the government.  A sure way to keep the government on their toes. Further, a jury of one's fellow citizens was thought to be the best assurance of a fair trial.  Having served on a  jury once confirmed this to me.  But, when I received my "jury summons" this time, I must confess, I was much less enthusiastic than I had been in the past.  This was not a good time for me.  There was a health issue going on, family drama and responsibilities to attend to.  Still, I felt guilty at these thoughts since I didn't think that was the right attitude to have.  After all, is it ever really a good time to serve on jury duty?  Doesn't serving others or a greater cause always entail sacrifice?

I mailed back my mini questionnaire and then committed myself to pray on this matter.  I was trying
to get myself enthused about a service that I had grown cold to.  The lack of desire for people to serve
on juries has certainly been part of the reason a number of countries have eliminated or are considering eliminating trials by jury.  As I was thinking this all over, there was a number of cases in the United States which had been in the news.  Cases where discussions of the grand jury or the trial jury's decision were called into question.  This has become all to common.  Consider the criticism of the jury verdicts in the cases of O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony and the various police brutality cases that have come into the U.S. criminal justice system. I asked myself if the concept of a jury was now passé?  What about leaving the guilt or innocence up to experts in the areas of ballistics, forensics or other specialties?  With all the corruption that exists, I even asked myself if justice was possible?

The Bible is very concerned with the topic of justice and as you read it, God's marvelous plan for perfect justice unfolds.  This biblical justice system forms the foundation for much of the legal system of Western Civilization.  God gave his chosen people "the law" early on in His book the Bible.  These early books of the Bible, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, make it clear that God is concerned with our day-to-day activities, our inter-personal relationships and business dealings.  There is a whole book in the Bible named Judges.  In this book, we see that disputes in ancient Israel were mediated by a judge who would sit in a "judgement seat" at the city gates and utilize these laws to establish justice in the community. Passages also show that the twelve tribes of Israel contributed to the life of the community and were consulted on matters of importance, even justice related.  The twelve tribes foreshadow the twelve called by Jesus to be his Apostles possibly accounting for why we see twelve people in a jury box.

As we progress to New Testament discussions of justice, we see that when we can not resolve a
matter ourselves we are to bring in an individual(s) and then the elders of the Church.  We are also
advised to think of the implications of Christians suing one another.  However, due to the existence of
sin, this does not preclude pursuing judicial intervention when it is necessary.  Some verses which
help us explore this are :

Matthew 18:15-17 (best solution) " Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.  If he hears you, you have gained your brother.  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'  And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.  But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."  Although this is written specifically for Christians, I have found this works well in general.

Acts 15:6   " Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter."  This sounds similar to a judge and jury.  It also shows the necessity of having engaged and wise people in authority to settle disputes.

1 Corinthians 6 : 1-3 " Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?  Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?  And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels?  How much more, things that pertain to this life?"

Mark 12:17 (God and government) " And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Acts 25:11 " I appeal to Caesar."  The Apostle Paul used the legal process afforded him as a Roman Citizen.

Jesus called us to be "light and salt" in this world (Matthew 5:13-14) .  How can we then ignore
opportunities to sit at our own "city gates" and use all that God has taught us to contribute to the life of our community?  One way to do this is to vote for the candidate which best represents godly principles and the other is to serve with love on a jury.  It is the closest thing that we have to direct democracy. Earthly government or justice is not perfect but don't let that deter you.  Remember one judge can be payed off or on the payroll of criminals but this is not so easy to do with a jury.  We are not perfect, and either are our fellow jurors.  So, what if one person on a jury takes a bribe to sway the decision?  What about a closed-minded individual?  A diverse group of people is much more difficult to control and has the ability to debate the issues and persuade an individual(s) to change their mind.  The system also has an appeal process which can sometimes correct mistakes and in some cases the judge can overturn a verdict.

In the case of my jury duty, I along with many people called to come down to the courthouse that day did not get picked to serve but I learned some hard lessons that day.  Those lessons brought me back to seeing jury duty in the right light.  I observed, every third or fourth person called during the jury selection process, did not wish to serve.  In a true diversity of individuals : black, white, Latino, Indian and Chinese, there was unity in that decision!  I confirmed this opinion when I observed a most convivial gathering of these perspective jurors discussing this topic in the coffee and snack room.  The conviviality ended in a disgusting display of foolishness when we all heard that we were to be dismissed.  The crowd erupted in a thunderous applause that even shocked the seasoned courtroom personnel.  I knew that I was no better than this immature crowd.  I was praying that God would release me from doing this service.  I was ashamed of myself and my peers.  I am resigned to do better if I am called again.