Jury duty

Three of my co-workers got letters of notice recently and two of three went to court taking some day-off and another guy out of it finally.

As you may know, people who live in America don't have a choice in this situation except with special reasons. Yes, just like the name implies, it is a duty.

Additionally, selection is random.

Most American people don't like jury duty because it requires taking at least a few days off and daily pay is only few dollars. It is not enough for lunch.

Also, it's not clear how many days it will take. Some people don't have their voters registration because people are selected from this data base.

Unfortunately, the government stopped using this database and uses the driver license database instead. The odds of being chosen are one in sixty eight.

Jury duty came from England to America in 1788. The main purpose was reflection of public opinion and values in their judgment. The American government believes that it promotes democracy.

However, this system has some downsides. First of all, sometimes large mistakes in judgments occasionally are made. The prejudice that the jury has also problem.

As in the case of former American football player O.J Simpson. He was found innocent by a jury consisting of eight black people out of 12.

Additionally, the lawyer often performs dramatic speeches to attract the sympathy of the jury.

Secondly, it is easy to imagine that an amateur jury can't make accurate judgments complicated civil case such as patent infringement.

Actually, if I receive judgment from jury, I'm concerned about the capability of an amateur duty. I would prefer a professional judge to an amateur jury.

Meanwhile, a similar system has been enacted in Japan since 2009. It's called "Saiban-in system" or "Citizen judge system" There are some differences from the jury duty system in the U.S. First, Saiban-in system deals with only a criminal court.

Secondly, the citizen judge decides guilt or innocence with a judge and a lawyer.

However, citizens have to decide a criminal punishment.

According to the survey, 64% of Japanese people think that they would feel heavy responsibility because, their judgment would decide the defendants' fate.

Simply put, they don't think that they have the confidence about their judgment.

I'm also concerned about their privacy, it's not safe. I don't want to give a strict judgment to Yakuza(gang).

In conclusion, I agree with the basic concept of jury duty reflecting citizen's opinion in their judgment. However, this system has some downsides.

I think a hybrid idea of mixing Japanese style and US style would make it much better.

I mean, it should be focused on only a criminal court, not civil case like in Japan.

I think that including civil cases means too many judgments we have to deal with.

Also, we only judge guilt or innocence, not deciding a criminal punishment, like in the U.S. I think it's too heavy for citizens to decide a criminal punishment.

Finally, both government should pay more for daily payment!!

Written in Aug 2011 and revised May 1st 2012