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A lot of folks must equate a jury summons to a “PAST DUE” notice as many times people will either let it get buried under a pile of paperwork or simply toss it knowing there may be consequences to follow.
My Uncle Vinny pushes the envelope by using a wide Sharpie marker to write a note on the summons that reads, “Return to sender – No junk mail accepted” before dropping it back in the mail – but he’s a real dope.
I got to thinking about the fact that the jury summons notice creates a bit of an inconvenience so I think they should try to make the “service” more appealing to folks.
I believe in order to retain a good pool of potential jurors, they need to make folks more comfortable. I suggest the following.
Perhaps recliners in the jury box would be a nice start. There’s no reason jurors shouldn’t be comfortable for two weeks while deciding someone’s fate.
They need to allow eating and provide tray tables like those in airplanes. Let’s face it, people like to snack and I’m sure attorneys don’t want “hangry” jurors sitting on their cases. It would
also be more time efficient not having to recess in
order to let people leave for lunch.
A popcorn machine in the courtroom lobby would be nice, as it makes for a more friendly and social environment.
Jurors should be allowed to talk with family members about the case when they get home. Everybody knows it’s not good to keep secrets from spouses, besides that, people are curious. Not allowing families to discuss the case over dinner can actually create problems for the family, making for unhappy jurors the following morning.
Raise the pay for jurors. My neighbor works as a clown for parties and makes pretty darn good money. They wouldn’t dismiss him from jury duty, so because he was mad he showed up to the courtroom in his clown costume. They dismissed him, not for financial reasons but because they thought he was just crazy.
They ended up having to dismiss two other potential jurors because they were so traumatized by the clown in the courtroom – imagine that.
If a judge can wear a robe to court, perhaps loosening up the courtroom dress code for the jurors would allow them to be more comfortable as well. I see nothing wrong with wearing jeans, shorts, ball caps or flip-flops to court – after all, the goal is to create happy potential jurors so they are less likely to weasel their way out of the courtroom with excuses for not being able to return for jury duty.
There would be fewer parents skipping out on the summons if the courts would provide a baby-sitting service, like some jobs do. Perhaps the magnetometer operator or a clerk could keep an eye on the kids for a period of time.
And for cryin’ out loud, sometimes it’s hard to stay awake through the process, especially for seniors. They should allow jurors to use tape recorders during the court proceedings so that if they do doze off, they can refresh themselves with the information before the following day.
If the recorders are a
“no go,” then jurors should at least be allowed to work crossword puzzles in order to stay alert during the trial.
As with anything one wants others to do, there must be some sort of incentive for them to do the
task.
Uncle Vinny spent some time in jail for dodging his jury summons. He was in a cell with 268 other people who also skipped out on going to court for jury duty.
All I’m saying is this could be prevented.
Anngee Quinones-Belian lives in Murphy. She loves humor and believes the world needs more of it. Email her at anngeeq@gmail.com.