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Why Jury Duty Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Constitutional Action
An argument for the constitutional responsibility to participate in jury duty
It’s easy to forget how important the jury really is to America. The right to be a juror is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to all eligible citizens. The right to trial by jury helped spark the American Revolution, was quickly adopted at the Constitutional Convention, and is the only right that appears in both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But for most of us, a jury summons is an unwelcome inconvenience. Who has time for jury duty? We have things to do.
In Why Jury Duty Matters , Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reminds us that whether we like it or not, we are all constitutional actors. Jury duty provides an opportunity to reflect on that constitutional responsibility. Combining American history, constitutional law, and personal experience, the book engages citizens in the deeper meaning of jury service. Interweaving constitutional principles into the actual jury experience, this book is a handbook for those Americans who want to enrich the jury experience. It seeks to reconnect ordinary citizens to the constitutional character of a nation by focusing on the important, and largely ignored, democratic lessons of the jury.
Jury duty is a shared American tradition. It connects people across class and race, creates habits of focus and purpose, and teaches values of participation, equality, and deliberation. We know that juries are important for courts, but we don’t know that jury service is important for democracy. This book inspires us to re-examine the jury experience and act on the constitutional principles that guide our country before, during, and after jury service.
It’s easy to forget how important the jury really is to America. The right to be a juror is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to all eligible citizens. The right to trial by jury helped spark the American Revolution, was quickly adopted at the Constitutional Convention, and is the only right that appears in both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But for most of us, a jury summons is an unwelcome inconvenience. Who has time for jury duty? We have things to do.
In Why Jury Duty Matters , Andrew Guthrie Ferguson reminds us that whether we like it or not, we are all constitutional actors. Jury duty provides an opportunity to reflect on that constitutional responsibility. Combining American history, constitutional law, and personal experience, the book engages citizens in the deeper meaning of jury service. Interweaving constitutional principles into the actual jury experience, this book is a handbook for those Americans who want to enrich the jury experience. It seeks to reconnect ordinary citizens to the constitutional character of a nation by focusing on the important, and largely ignored, democratic lessons of the jury.
Jury duty is a shared American tradition. It connects people across class and race, creates habits of focus and purpose, and teaches values of participation, equality, and deliberation. We know that juries are important for courts, but we don’t know that jury service is important for democracy. This book inspires us to re-examine the jury experience and act on the constitutional principles that guide our country before, during, and after jury service.
- GenresLaw
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson
5 books11 followersAndrew Guthrie Ferguson is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of the District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law. Professor Ferguson teaches and writes in the area of criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence.
Prior to joining the law faculty, Professor Ferguson worked as a supervising attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Professor Ferguson is also involved in developing constitutional education projects in the Washington D.C. area.
Prior to joining the law faculty, Professor Ferguson worked as a supervising attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Professor Ferguson is also involved in developing constitutional education projects in the Washington D.C. area.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 7, 2017
This book found its way to me at JUST the right time!
My husband and I recently became members at our local library and on our first day of browsing my husband came across this book and brought it over to where I was, because he knew that I had jury duty coming up in a couple of weeks. I checked it out.
You don't have to be like me and wait until you're summoned to check this book out...it may even alleviate any anxiety you have about being selected one day and it may make you anticipate the day that you're selected.
I'm the first one selected of anyone that I knew so I was, admittedly, nervous about a new/foreign experience...but I was also feeling like I'm one of the lucky ones that has an opportunity to see what truly goes on in a courtroom and not just the scripted stuff you see in a Grisham adapted movie or Law & Order.
I familiarized myself with the route/area beforehand to take away some of the jitters and went out and purchased attire that I felt was appropriate for the respectability such an occasion deserves (but let me just tell you I was the most over dressed person there! People showed up in jeans and FLIP FLOPS! The summons specifically says "no flip flops". It also says no shorts or offensive graphic tees.)
This book actually helped me to get "pumped" about carrying out my civic duty and I appreciated the enthusiasm of the author.
Now for those who are completely unfamiliar with the process I will share with you what my process was like:
I received a summons in the mail approx. 6 weeks prior to report date. You have 10 days in which to register and fill out your questionnaire online or to request a deferral from the date of receipt of your summons. Your summons will give you information about dress code and parking (and provides a parking voucher). It also provides the instructions for going online to continue the process there.
When you go online be sure to click on the date of your summons to verify if there are any additional report dates for this specific pool of jurors. Mine had two separate dates.
On the day of you must bring your jury summons and if you're planning to park in any public parking/meter parking you must put your voucher on passenger side dash in windshield. If you park in a garage that spits out a coin they validate the coin at the courthouse using a (magnetized?) machine that beeps to let you know your coin chip has been validated. When you exit the garage you just deposit your coin as normally would but the gate opens without your having to pay.
I arrived 15 minutes early but the line of reporting jurors was out the door and wrapped around the building. Once you're in you go through security. We then gathered in a large juror assembly room and were left waiting for about an hour for everyone to arrive and then for a kind of orientation welcome. We then watched a 20 min orientation video (which I had previously watched online when I originally filled out my online questionnaire).
A judge came in and addressed the group and then the room was divided into two groups and sent to two different court rooms. The judge elaborates on the amount of cases they're selecting jurors for and then goes into detail about what the first case is and reads off the names of all the parties, lawyers, witnesses involved. (And they do this before any new case presented.) They then go into great detail about what's expected of a potential juror.
When we walked into the courtroom all of us had to put a name tag into a box and once the judge has given us instructions they begin selecting names. The judge asks if you have any questions (concerning the case) or if you have no concerns about being a juror on that particular case. When my name was called I recognized two of the names on the witness list and so when I answered "yes" to his inquiring if I had any questions he requested that I approach the bench and the attorneys came as well. I then explained that I recognized two of the names and they asked me a few particulars to verify if these were in fact the persons I presumed they were and once it was verified I was asked to return to my seat and my name was put back into the box to possibly be selected for one of the other two remaining cases. Mine was not.
There are two different types of cases...either criminal or civil. For the criminal cases 24 jurors were initially selected and then the lawyers interview the entire group and ask personal questions and once they're done they each select people that they want "pulled" and so 14 are left remaining (12 jurors and 2 alternates). For the civil case 15 names were selected and they all remained as they were to serve on the case.
So I arrived at 8am and was released just after noon. In order to leave our summons had to be scanned again to scan us out before we left the building.
I do have to report back in a couple of weeks for one final jury selection day.
A few highlights of the book are:
"We associate "liberty" with freedom, not rules. But American liberty is more connected with law than lawlessness. American liberty requires rules. To be allowed the political freedom to think, say, and do as you like, does not actually mean that you can do whatever you like. We believe in the freedom of political candidates to campaign, but that does not mean that candidates can threaten, silence, and intimidate the other candidates. We believe that everyone has the right to obtain property, but that does not mean that we permit people to steal other people's property." (page 92/93)
"Yet the hard work jurors do is not in the production of evidence, but in the processing of that evidence. The hard work happens in the jury box, where you must evaluate the information presented. Juries are active engines of information processing. While all an observer might see is you scribbling on your notepad, the entire show means nothing if you are not engaged in sorting through the information. In every trial there are two sides to the story. The choice of how to interpret the diverging versions comes down to the active engagement of the jury." (page 95/96)
"'The deliberation provides an excellent opportunity for the jury members to influence one another on the meaning of facts and the value judgments implicit within them. Similarly, studies have concluded that group deliberation results in better recall of evidence than that of a single fact finder. Each person is able to bring to the table a separate memory of the facts. The collected facts add up to a more complete picture of the trial testimony. In addition, with greater number of people, personal biases tend to be minimized." (page 112)
"Even if you believe that deliberation improves decision making, it still may be difficult to see how it will work in practice. Why would a group of strangers be able to come together and resolve a contested and difficult problem? What is it about jury deliberations that allows for an increased ability to solve problems? Why would you be successful at deliberating in a jury when you are regularly unable to agree on a family vacation or business strategy?" "One reason for the success of jury decisions is that during these "jury moments" jurors retain a heightened sense of focus, commitment, and responsible. You have, after all, been given more power than you would usually be given in regular life. You have been given judicial power. Deciding the liberty of another person, weighing the appropriate level of damages, or resolving contested facts is not something we do every day." (page 114)
My husband and I recently became members at our local library and on our first day of browsing my husband came across this book and brought it over to where I was, because he knew that I had jury duty coming up in a couple of weeks. I checked it out.
You don't have to be like me and wait until you're summoned to check this book out...it may even alleviate any anxiety you have about being selected one day and it may make you anticipate the day that you're selected.
I'm the first one selected of anyone that I knew so I was, admittedly, nervous about a new/foreign experience...but I was also feeling like I'm one of the lucky ones that has an opportunity to see what truly goes on in a courtroom and not just the scripted stuff you see in a Grisham adapted movie or Law & Order.
I familiarized myself with the route/area beforehand to take away some of the jitters and went out and purchased attire that I felt was appropriate for the respectability such an occasion deserves (but let me just tell you I was the most over dressed person there! People showed up in jeans and FLIP FLOPS! The summons specifically says "no flip flops". It also says no shorts or offensive graphic tees.)
This book actually helped me to get "pumped" about carrying out my civic duty and I appreciated the enthusiasm of the author.
Now for those who are completely unfamiliar with the process I will share with you what my process was like:
I received a summons in the mail approx. 6 weeks prior to report date. You have 10 days in which to register and fill out your questionnaire online or to request a deferral from the date of receipt of your summons. Your summons will give you information about dress code and parking (and provides a parking voucher). It also provides the instructions for going online to continue the process there.
When you go online be sure to click on the date of your summons to verify if there are any additional report dates for this specific pool of jurors. Mine had two separate dates.
On the day of you must bring your jury summons and if you're planning to park in any public parking/meter parking you must put your voucher on passenger side dash in windshield. If you park in a garage that spits out a coin they validate the coin at the courthouse using a (magnetized?) machine that beeps to let you know your coin chip has been validated. When you exit the garage you just deposit your coin as normally would but the gate opens without your having to pay.
I arrived 15 minutes early but the line of reporting jurors was out the door and wrapped around the building. Once you're in you go through security. We then gathered in a large juror assembly room and were left waiting for about an hour for everyone to arrive and then for a kind of orientation welcome. We then watched a 20 min orientation video (which I had previously watched online when I originally filled out my online questionnaire).
A judge came in and addressed the group and then the room was divided into two groups and sent to two different court rooms. The judge elaborates on the amount of cases they're selecting jurors for and then goes into detail about what the first case is and reads off the names of all the parties, lawyers, witnesses involved. (And they do this before any new case presented.) They then go into great detail about what's expected of a potential juror.
When we walked into the courtroom all of us had to put a name tag into a box and once the judge has given us instructions they begin selecting names. The judge asks if you have any questions (concerning the case) or if you have no concerns about being a juror on that particular case. When my name was called I recognized two of the names on the witness list and so when I answered "yes" to his inquiring if I had any questions he requested that I approach the bench and the attorneys came as well. I then explained that I recognized two of the names and they asked me a few particulars to verify if these were in fact the persons I presumed they were and once it was verified I was asked to return to my seat and my name was put back into the box to possibly be selected for one of the other two remaining cases. Mine was not.
There are two different types of cases...either criminal or civil. For the criminal cases 24 jurors were initially selected and then the lawyers interview the entire group and ask personal questions and once they're done they each select people that they want "pulled" and so 14 are left remaining (12 jurors and 2 alternates). For the civil case 15 names were selected and they all remained as they were to serve on the case.
So I arrived at 8am and was released just after noon. In order to leave our summons had to be scanned again to scan us out before we left the building.
I do have to report back in a couple of weeks for one final jury selection day.
A few highlights of the book are:
"We associate "liberty" with freedom, not rules. But American liberty is more connected with law than lawlessness. American liberty requires rules. To be allowed the political freedom to think, say, and do as you like, does not actually mean that you can do whatever you like. We believe in the freedom of political candidates to campaign, but that does not mean that candidates can threaten, silence, and intimidate the other candidates. We believe that everyone has the right to obtain property, but that does not mean that we permit people to steal other people's property." (page 92/93)
"Yet the hard work jurors do is not in the production of evidence, but in the processing of that evidence. The hard work happens in the jury box, where you must evaluate the information presented. Juries are active engines of information processing. While all an observer might see is you scribbling on your notepad, the entire show means nothing if you are not engaged in sorting through the information. In every trial there are two sides to the story. The choice of how to interpret the diverging versions comes down to the active engagement of the jury." (page 95/96)
"'The deliberation provides an excellent opportunity for the jury members to influence one another on the meaning of facts and the value judgments implicit within them. Similarly, studies have concluded that group deliberation results in better recall of evidence than that of a single fact finder. Each person is able to bring to the table a separate memory of the facts. The collected facts add up to a more complete picture of the trial testimony. In addition, with greater number of people, personal biases tend to be minimized." (page 112)
"Even if you believe that deliberation improves decision making, it still may be difficult to see how it will work in practice. Why would a group of strangers be able to come together and resolve a contested and difficult problem? What is it about jury deliberations that allows for an increased ability to solve problems? Why would you be successful at deliberating in a jury when you are regularly unable to agree on a family vacation or business strategy?" "One reason for the success of jury decisions is that during these "jury moments" jurors retain a heightened sense of focus, commitment, and responsible. You have, after all, been given more power than you would usually be given in regular life. You have been given judicial power. Deciding the liberty of another person, weighing the appropriate level of damages, or resolving contested facts is not something we do every day." (page 114)
January 1, 2014
Interesting read, geared at the lay person. A nicely interwoven look at the principles & authorities governing jury trials.
September 4, 2024
If you have been called for jury duty, go ahead and grumble, mope, and play the woe-is-me game and get it out of your system. Then, read this book. I will help you get your mind right and prepare you for the civic task ahead of you.
I appreciate Prof. Ferguson's argument that jury service is deeply rooted in America's constitutional tradition and history. His prose is accessible and engaging. My only (very minor) criticism of the book is that it frequently veered away from making a constitutional case for jury service (the stated purpose of the work) and into a full-blown lesson on the Constitution and constitutional law with little to no connection back to jury service. Still, this was an excellent, easy, and fairly short read.
I appreciate Prof. Ferguson's argument that jury service is deeply rooted in America's constitutional tradition and history. His prose is accessible and engaging. My only (very minor) criticism of the book is that it frequently veered away from making a constitutional case for jury service (the stated purpose of the work) and into a full-blown lesson on the Constitution and constitutional law with little to no connection back to jury service. Still, this was an excellent, easy, and fairly short read.
February 22, 2023
Law school professor, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explains the importance and value of jury duty. Far from a cumbersome obligation, Ferguson shares why this civic responsibility is essential to American democracy. Beginning with the history of jury duty and its place in our Constitution and continuing through the selection process and the valuable civic lessons experienced by those who serve, readers will find a new appreciation for a civic duty. This is readable nonfiction at its finest.
October 18, 2021
3.5 I had to read this for class. It was boring at times, but it was a nice introduction to some of the basics of the Constitution. It wasn't too long, and it was easy to digest.
November 20, 2013
Easy to read, very informative book about why we should take jury duty seriously. Gives a very good perspective on civil duty. Should be required reading in any government/civics course.
A little disorganized which is why it got 4 out of 5.
A little disorganized which is why it got 4 out of 5.
April 28, 2013
A quick and accessible read that will definitely change your perspective on jury duty, and just might change your view (for the better) of what it means to be an American citizen.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews