Jury Service

The right to trial by jury is one of our society’s most valued liberties. According to a 1998 American Bar Association public opinion poll, 78% of the public rates our jury system as the fairest way to determine guilt or innocence, and 69% of those surveyed consider juries to be the most important part of the justice system.

Despite the public’s strong support of the jury system, interest in serving on juries has dropped off substantially in recent years. Each year, approximately 15 million Americans are summoned to jury duty. A significant number citizens simply ignore the juror summons. In some urban jurisdictions, fewer than 10% of its citizens respond. While a portion of this non-response rate is attributable to out-of-date records and summonses that are mailed to the wrong address, many citizens simply ignore their civic obligation and opportunity to serve. Those who do arrive at the courthouse often avoid service through “occupational exemptions” that benefit certain professions or come presenting flimsy “hardship excuses” to escape jury duty. All too often, they are successful. Jury duty can impose a severe financial hardship on working people. In most states, employers are not required to pay their employees during any period in which they are absent for jury service. These citizens are faced with receiving only a miniscule court fee (usually $10- 40) per day for their service, an amount that may not even reimburse them for transportation costs. High-income professionals avoid jury service through statutory exemptions, hardship excuses, and lax enforcement of summonses. Juror hardship is particularly great in the small percentage of trials that can last several days, weeks, or months. This trend has made it difficult to fill the jury box, increased courts’ administrative costs, and threatened the constitutional right to a representative jury.

All citizens should equally share the obligation of jury duty regardless of their occupation and income level. Not only does requiring all to serve more fairly distribute the burden of jury service throughout the public, but it is also necessary to ensure a diverse and representative jury. ATRA encourages the states to lessen the burden on working people called for jury duty and thereby encourage their service by:

1. Establishing an easy method of obtaining one automatic postponement of jury service to a date of the juror’s choosing;
2. Adopting and implementing a one-day/one-trial system;
3. Limiting the frequency of jury service;
4. Requiring that businesses provide employees with their regular salary for the first ten days of jury service, while exempting small businesses from this obligation;
5. Protecting the employment benefits of those who serve on juries by not permitting employers to require their employees to use leave time in order to serve; and
6. Creating a fund to provide additional compensation for jurors selected to serve on long trials.
   ATRA also encourages states to ensure that all people serve on juries by:
   1. Eliminating all occupational exemptions from jury service;
   2. Tightening the standard for hardship excuses; and
   3. Providing that ignoring a juror summons is punishable as a criminal misdemeanor.