Jury Duty/Slavery?

I was reading the story about Oprah Winfrey doing jury duty. The part that got my attention was the fact that she was paid $17.20 per day. You are required to perform this duty when called yet they pay a criminal wage. This is far below minimum wage. The judges are well paid. The lawyers are well paid. All the court staff are well paid. Even expert witnesses get compensated. Yet jurors are treated like slaves. I see a problem with this. If jurors get paid $17.20 per day then perhaps so should the judges and lawyers. Do you expect jurors getting that kind of money to really pay attention or even care what happens in the trial? I for one wouldn't. That kind of money is an insult knowing the people on the other end are collecting high five figures and up yearly.

jury duty is a citizen's responsibility. i don't see the problem caused by the low wages any more than there is a problem with selective service. when the time comes, you are called on by your country, and you make the sacrifice. lawyers and judges obviously are in court every day of their lives, so it makes sense that they be paid normally. and besides, it seems like wishful thinking to ask for decent pay for jurors in a country which can't afford health coverage for its citizens!

-koji K.

I agree its a citizen's responsibility to serve on a Jury, But the money you are paid is some what of a joke. Since modern cases can get dragged out for months and months. How can people live on such a wage.

Jury duty is the opposite of slavery. It's a way for citizens to directly participate in government... making them, ultimately, the people who have the final say in the way laws are implemented.

It should be noted that our concept of a jury grew out of medieval anglo-saxon meetings wherein the 'freedmen' of an area would meet to decide legal matters. So, in a way, jury duty is one of the roots of democracy.

As a sidenote, you're not called up for jury duty unless you are registered to vote, so I wonder if making jury duty mandatory for everyone would increase voter registration?

The low wages you get when serving causes some so called honest citizens to vote with the majority in deliberation instead of voting the way they feel. They'll do anything to get it over with ASAP, even if the innocent go to jail. They just want out. Especially on the long trials. I think the OJ jury caved in part because of this.

And the 17 bucks, that's a high wage for a juror. I'm not certain but I think it is still 6 bucks here, maybe more now. It cost more in parking if you can't get into the parking garage where they validate your ticket because of the downtown construction.

Civic duty or not a person is entitled to a reasonable wage. We live in a country based on that idea. Judges and politicians have civic duties but you don't see them making that kind of miserable wage. Plus if jurors got paid a fair wage maybe the government wouldn't be so quick to bring some of these idiotic cases to trial. So if someone is on trial then you have a better idea that there is real evidence to support the case and that the person really did something wrong. You wont be going on trial for having a small bag of pot. The reality is that once you go on trial you have lost. Even if you don't go to jail you have lost financially. So no reason the government shouldn't take a hit as well. Its only fair.

And consider this. You are going to get three types of jurors. Juror type 1 is someone that hates their job but is getting full pay from their employer to be there. The only thing they want is to drag the case out which costs you money. Juror type 2 is someone who is taking a huge pay hit to be there and they aren't going to be happy about it. They are going to do whatever it takes to end the case as fast as possible. Chances are the verdict won't be accurate. Just fast. Juror 3 is probably the worst. Here is a person making not a whole lot more than the amount jurors get paid (after taxes). What kind of person gets this? An unskilled person with the ability of the common ground squirrel or an old person who may or may not catch the facts of the case. You'll probably get a few good jurors but chances are you won't.