He’s Reached a Final Verdict
After hours of waiting, we jurors finally got to enter the courtroom to learn about the case. A tough and long case. The kind that will give your entire belief system a workout. Not only do the court and the attorneys want to know who you are and what you stand for, but, more important, the process makes you want to know who you are and what you stand for.
This melting pot of potential jurors represented people of diverse backgrounds and offered a good opportunity for some of them to express their opinions. Some preached about U.S. foreign policy and others talked about the inefficacies and/or failures of our judiciary system.
A common theme was why potential jurors could not serve. This was one of the funny ones: “This morning I was in court being chased by the D.A. on drug charges and now you want me to be a juror? I hate D.A.s and judges.” You can guess what happened to that guy.
More troubling was another juror’s excuse. It was not that he did not have the time; he was retired. It was not financial hardship; he was getting his monthly pension no matter what he did. His excuse was that he loved his freedom, “and I don’t want to be told where to go, when and what to do.”
My initial take on the whole process was that, being a sole proprietor, a case that took several weeks would present a hardship for me and my family, both financially and otherwise. However, listening to all these people trying to get out of jury duty by asking for the “hardship exception” and giving the court folks (judge, deputy district attorneys, deputies, clerks, etc.) lectures on how much they have been imposed upon made me angry. I became determined to set my personal concerns aside and see how I could serve the society whose fruits I enjoy. Interestingly, the story changed when it got to me. I tried to tell the court folks that my difficulties were bearable and therefore could not be classified as “hardship.” I explained that my personal difficulties were no big sacrifices compared with the importance of my civic duties and responsibilities. Now it was the court trying to change my decision and persuade me to ask for hardship -- which I did.
So facing those concerns, I decided to use my few minutes of glory in the court to give a lecture of my own, mostly to the other potential jurors. Here is what I said: Our freedom, security, progressive civilization and prosperity is not handed to us by some invisible or imaginary people or powers. It was fought for inch by inch throughout history, and continues to be today, in everyday life. Our dynamic, ever-evolving democratic judiciary and justice system has not appeared magically. We the people are the custodians, as well as the power, that fuel the system.
Isn’t it better that we pay the little price of inconvenience to participate in our civic duties now, rather have our children pay the much larger price later? We the people of the United States of America are strong, smart, fair and in general prosperous. Every one of us can help our society and our civilization become better. So next time you get a notice for jury duty, see it as your turn to do your part.
Vahid Imani lives in Solvang.