“Off to jury duty ... yuck” was sitting in my Facebook feed one morning. A few hours later I saw an article about a Lenawee County judge’s response after nearly one-half of the jury panels failed to show up twice in one month. The judge sent contempt of court notices to the people who failed to report for jury duty and told them that the “court system cannot function without citizens participating as jurors.” A few weeks later, the Detroit News published an article about Chief Judge Robert Colombo, Jr., in Wayne County advising county residents to show up for jury duty “unless they want to possibly spend some time in the slammer.” Between November 2013 and mid-September 2014, about 46 percent of the 78,639 potential jurors failed to show up for jury duty. Two hundred people were being called in for a show-cause hearing to tell why they ignored the notices.
To some, serving on a jury is one of our most important civic duties. Berrien County explains: “If you have been called to serve as a juror, nothing a citizen can be asked to do is more important. You will help to decide what happens to the liberty or property of other people.” For others, it is just another thing to dread—like going to the dentist. Why is that? If you are nonsalaried or self-employed, missing work for jury duty means missing income, and the $25-$40 per day payment is not going to cover your lost income. Even if you get paid by your employer, being out of the office to sit on a jury might mean working evenings to handle the things no one else can do in your absence. College students may be concerned that missing classes could adversely affect their final grades. Some people may simply be afraid of the responsibility for the decision they will be asked to make.
So what’s the solution to all these barriers? Macomb County has implemented some little changes that may make jury duty a little more palatable. They will pay jurors daily in cash through ATM-style machines. The clerk’s office in that county is already using restaurant-style, “light-up” pagers to let jurors know when they are needed in a courtroom. This allows jurors to walk around the downtown area rather than sit in a jury room while waiting to be called to a courtroom. The clerk also provides bus passes for low-income jurors and offers an array of books in the jury room. As someone who was called to jury duty three times in one year, I would have loved these changes.
Macomb County’s innovations may seem like simple or small solutions that do not address the big problem. But a big solution, like paying jurors $200 a day, is probably not feasible, and the positive impact of a simple solution is better than no solution at all.