06 Jun Skip Jury Duty in Philly? Get Ready for Jail

Philadelphia had a problem. Only about 13% of folks in the City of Brotherly Love told to show up for jury duty did so on their scheduled day. So the city recently recommissioned its Juror Scofflaw Court and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, hauled its first victims in for failure to appear for jury duty. These three Philadelphians had already received a warning that a warrant was out for their arrest, so sure enough they were all arrested at their homes. Two of the first three were given $300 fines after spending a day in jail. The third actually pleaded not guilty, saying she was ill on her day for jury duty and didn’t call in sick because she was “in a very dark place.” For her defiance her fine was $400.

Why is this a story? For right or wrong, this is our system, allowing litigants and those accused of crimes to be judged by their peers, whatever that means. Are average citizens always able to understand the complexities of business disputes or the fine lines between various crimes? No, not always. But overall the system, as klunky as it can be, tends to work. And in the rare cases where juries go rouge, judges are able to reverse them and will do so. Depending solely on judges could have its issues as well, as some of them end up being found out to be, gasp, biased. Or, shocker, corrupt. But the vast majority are caring, fair and dare I say, wise.

Much about our still relatively young experiment in democracy leaves one wanting not to see the sausage getting made. The electoral college. Divided government stalemate. A Constitution written on parchment that either one relies on blindly despite changes in our times or which one allows to be flexible, only giving today’s leaders too much power to “evolve” the thoughts of the founders. But…I like sausage after it gets made. And I like our system, imperfections and all. Especially on a day like today, where we remember the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation on the Shores of Normandy so long ago. A long way from juror scofflaws, but not really. That civic duty, it’s a thing.