The Jury Pool

I was recently having a discussion with my assistant about “jury pools.” A jury pool is the pool of people called to the courthouse from whom a jury will ultimately be selected, either in a civil or criminal case. My assistant had been a potential juror on a criminal case a handful of years ago. She told me about how all the people in the pool were sharing their opinions about the case with each other (even though it hadn’t started yet and not a single witness had testified). She also said that people were lying to get out of jury duty, or lying because they wanted to get on the jury and they had already made up their mind about who was guilty or innocent. She was very troubled by it, and I was troubled to hear about it.

A jury trial is an essential part of our democratic process. It is our “last resort” when we cannot resolve our civil or criminal disagreements. We call twelve people from the community. We present them with the evidence. And we let them decide what is just. It is the true definitions of self-governance. And yet, people try to get out of jury duty all the time or come into the case as jurors with their minds already made up. How can we call this justice? How can we trust the system?

I like to imagine that jurors will keep an open mind, or at least become more open-minded once both sides have presented their case. I do believe that the vetting process helps put more open-minded people on the actual jury, and most folks are honest and want to make the right decision. Still, we all bring out preexisting worldviews to the courthouse with us—that’s just unavoidable.

In my own practice, I see that injured people are often seen as scam artists. This is true whether they are injured in at work, in an auto accident, by a dog bite, slip-and-fall, etc. This is a societal viewpoint that the insurance industry has worked hard to create over the years. We have to overcome that inherent bias by showing the jury our humanity—we have to show them the injured party is just a normal person like them, but they got hurt and now their whole life is turned upside-down. That is the only way to overcome the bias, and it isn’t easy.

I often wonder whether our current political climate just adds to our preset biases. If the police were involved in a case, we’ve all got notions about whether to trust or distrust them. If a doctor was involved, we’ve all got our ideas about the healthcare system and vaccines. If a person looks a certain way or talks a certain way, we may assume they vote a certain way and then we like or dislike them automatically. And when you throw racial divides into the equation, it makes any biases or preconceived notions even more deeply ingrained.

So what are the take-aways? Well, first and foremost, we can all be more civil and open-minded. Second, serving on a jury is a sacred part of our democratic process, and it should be approached with sober, diligent care. And third, if you find yourself on either side of a lawsuit that might go to trial, if there is a reasonable settlement deal on the table, you ought to consider taking it. After all, if you get the wrong jury, they may have already decided against you before your lawyer starts her opening statement.

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