Who’s to judge?

When jury duty calls, say ‘Yes’

It’s fairly rare that a juror in a federal trial earns more headlines than the people who stand accused. But that’s exactly what happened recently when a woman in Northwest Arkansas failed to show up for the trial she was selected to hear.

The case involved money laundering and fraud of more than $16 million. Grabbing the spotlight from those sorts of accusations requires some pretty dramatic behavior. That’s what the judge got from this juror.

After the woman was selected, she didn’t show up for the trial’s opening, instead calling the jury coordinator with an excuse she’d not previously mentioned or cleared with the judge. The judge immediately issued a “show cause” order.

The woman’s attorney described her as a scared 22-year-old who didn’t think through her actions. Those actions included getting a doctor’s note that declared her “unable to sit for jury duty.” But it turned out that note wasn’t written by the doctor whose signature appeared on it. It was written by a nurse at the clinic where the absent juror works, according to U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks.

Brooks held the woman in contempt and ordered her to perform 40 hours of community service. It was a rather mild, but appropriate, rebuke.

“We have a civic obligation when called to serve on juries. You were selected and took an oath and were ordered to serve by the court. You disobeyed that oath and order,” Brooks told the woman. “If I let you get away with it, I have to let everybody get away with it.”

Maybe civic duty sounds old fashioned these days. Perhaps parents and schools have failed to instill a sense of civic responsibility. Whatever. It doesn’t, and shouldn’t, diminish the expectation. The nation and our local communities really ask very little of their citizens beyond paying our taxes. Pitching in to help the judicial system render its verdicts isn’t too much to expect.

And imagine being on trial. Wouldn’t you want responsible people showing up to sit in judgment?

It’s standard humor to joke about getting out of jury duty, sadly. And clearly some folks take evasion quite seriously.

Why not look at jury duty as simply one small way to give back to the community and nation you live in? When they call, the default answer should be “Yes, how can I help?”