Why You Shouldn't Duck Jury Duty

 

Jury Room, 1959 by Norman Rockwell

By David Churchill Barrow

Jury duty? Don’t duck it; step out of your silo and expand your horizons!

"When the English adopted the institution of the jury, they formed a half-barbarous people; they have since become one of the most enlightened nations on the globe, and their attachment to the jury has appeared to grow with their enlightenment."

- Alexis de Tocqueville 

In Democracy in America, Tocqueville noted a peculiarity in the New England towns that gave the selectmen (the executives under a town meeting system) the unique power to decide who was fit to be placed in the drawing of names for jury duty. This practice survived at least into my younger days, and so it was that my father, a selectman, arranged for my name to be drawn that summer between college and law school. This was easy to arrange, since service was for an entire month, and anyone with a full-time job could plead hardship. He knew that once I was a lawyer, there would be little chance I would be allowed on a jury (because it would taint the laymen quality of a jury, and thus its purpose) and he thought it would be a valuable experience. It was that, and much more. I served on cases ranging from kids stealing beer to attempted murder.

One case was a real estate agent charged with carrying a gun outside that he had just sold to an undercover ATF agent. That act carried a one-year mandatory. This was the 1970s, and I looked just like Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar. If you got drawn for the 1st chair closest to the judge, you were automatically the foreman, unless you declined. Did you know juries sometimes get to bring the evidence in with them for deliberations? At the conclusion of the trial, the judge said to me: 

“Here is the gun,” as the bailiff handed it to me.

“Here are the bullets. Do not put the bullets into the gun. Do you understand me,

son?”

“YES, your Honor!” I loudly replied with a wide smile, which was returned.

I walked into the jury room upon a cloud of pride and self-importance.

The kids who broke into the supermarket to steal as many cases of beer as they could fit into their car were led by a wiseass punk. When asked why they did it, he said they were thirsty. That did not go over well, with us or with the judge, from the scowl on his face. Now I may have looked like a punk myself, but I remember thinking that defense counsel should take this punk by the ear into a conference room and slap him around some for making his job so tough.

The attempted 1st degree murder case had an interesting twist. A man, outraged that his wife was divorcing him, was accused of shooting a .22 rifle at her as she was entering her car. He missed, but the rounds were clustered near the mirror. My fellow jury members were of the view that perhaps he just wanted to frighten her, and so was not guilty. I wanted to hold out for a guilty verdict. I was a young man completely disgusted with this vile human being, and argued to the jury that forensics showed the site was off on the rifle. They reminded me of the standard - reasonable doubt. They had a point. THAT, and not my disgust, should rule the case.

Tocqueville wrote that “the jury… serves to give to the minds of all citizens a part of the habits of mind of the judge; and these habits are precisely those that best prepare the people to be free.” Jury duty assists us to give a care beyond ourselves as individuals, because as Tocqueville wrote, “it teaches men the practice of equity. Each in judging his neighbor, thinks that he could be judged in his turn.” Its educational value is inestimable.

Tocqueville explains:

“The jury serves incredibly to form the judgment and to augment the natural enlightenment of the people. There in my opinion, is its greatest advantage. One ought to consider it as a school, free of charge and always open, where each juror comes to be instructed in his rights… I think that the practical intelligence and good political sense of the Americans must principally be attributed to the long use that they have made of the jury…”

Cynicism about our legal system, and civic duty writ large, has spread among us far beyond its justification. If you avoid jury duty for “light and transient causes” because you simply lack the inspiration, you are not only depriving your community of your service, but you may be robbing yourself as well. The more diverse and populated the jury pool, the stronger the foundations of our liberty become.

David Churchill Barrow is a Massachusetts “Swamp Yankee” descendant of William Bradford and Myles Standish of Pilgrim fame, who grew up on a farm that has not been sold since first built in the early 1700s.  In that farmhouse still hangs the commission of James Churchill as a captain in the Massachusetts militia signed by John Hancock, and the sword of Thomas Churchill, a Navy engineer who served in the Blockade of the Confederacy.  He met his wife, MaryLu, in high school. They were married in 1979 and have three adult children. MaryLu is a former elementary school teacher. Today they live just outside Tampa, Fla. They are the authors of And Justice for All, Even Redcoats, and are working on their next novel about the Pilgrims. David also writes for PJ Media.

How My 5th Grade Teacher Taught Me To Love America

By Troy M. Olson

As parents, we are tasked with the moral education and development of our children. We are also tasked with the patriotic education and development of our children.

As America celebrates its semiquincentennial - 250 years out from the Declaration of Independence in 1776, a momentous occasion that altered not just the fate of the new world but the arc of human civilization - it's important to know the whole story beyond just our own individual and familial connection to the nation.  

When I was a kid, the Fourth of July was more majestic than Christmas. That’s hard to do for kids. It could have been a number of things: the weather; Minnesota’s (over) 10,000 lakes in all their glory; the extended family gathering, including living relatives of the Greatest Generation; ice cream and fireworks; baseball and the boys of summer; and so much more. 

Even before I knew the story of the founding, I was drawn to the feeling and ambiance of Independence Day.

And heaven knows I devoured every square inch of this set…

World Book encyclopedias from 1991

But, it was the 5th grade, in Mr. Sprafka’s social studies and history class, when I truly began to fall in love with America and the American story. 

Mr. Sprafka and his family lived in a historic home in my small town. Multiple generations living in the same well-kept home is a rarity in the Midwest. The long and harsh winters tend to do a number on houses and maintenance, and whatever the winters don’t do the realities of the ever upward real estate market do the rest. 

When I was eleven years old, though, what I saw was an interesting man who had traveled the world, lived in the most architecturally interesting home in my view, teaching me for the first time the Great American Story, from front to back. The highlight of that story was the American Revolution and its lead up. America was a story of heroes and resilience. Even though my family, like most families, did not enter the picture until decades later, all those who love America and the American people will have their chapter to add. And those chapters gain their inspiration from what came before it - this is our national inheritance.  

Just like much of youth, what I remember most was the enthusiasm and energy from the teacher, which transfers far more than the dates, facts, and figures ever can. It was the patriotic equivalent of the active presence of your parents being there: you don’t remember the details anymore, but you remember how you felt about it.

This summer we must transfer more than just good American vibes, and do more than grumble over the growing discord and differences among groups in the pride of being an American. 

We must find tens of thousands of Mr. Sprafkas from coast to coast to teach children about the Great American Story, and we must tell that story to our own children. As parents, we are tasked with the moral education and development of our children. We are also tasked with the patriotic education and development of our children. This does not mean we must know all of these things, but we must connect them with those who can do what we cannot.   

And I just hope that we all know someone in our life who can competently and effectively tell this great story of America, because transferring that at a pivotal young age may be the difference between whether 250 years reaches 300 years, 350 years, and so on. Because, if every American took Mr. Sprafka’s 5th grade history class and learned the story from him, not only would the kids be alright, but we’d have more adults in the room by now as well.  

Troy M. Olson is an Army Veteran, lawyer by training, and co-author of 'The Emerging Populist Majority' available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Target. He is the Sergeant-at-Arms of the New York Young Republican Club and co-founder of its Veterans Caucus. He has appeared on CNN, CBS, and OAN. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children, and is the 3rd Vice Commander ("Americanism" pillar) of the first new American Legion Post in the city in years, Post 917. You can follow him on X/Twitter and Substack at @TroyMOlson