{"id":29660,"date":"2021-07-19T12:51:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T17:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=29660"},"modified":"2021-07-19T12:53:35","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T17:53:35","slug":"jury-duty-in-de-tocquevilles-time-and-in-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2021\/07\/jury-duty-in-de-tocquevilles-time-and-in-the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury Duty in de Tocqueville\u2019s Time and in the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexis de Tocqueville<\/a> was a French aristocrat sent by his country to inspect American penitentiaries during the 1830s.\u00a0 He dutifully delivered his report, but he also found himself interested in more than penitentiaries.\u00a0 In Democracy in America<\/a> <\/em>(1835), he provided a wide-ranging and to this day highly regarded account of life in the youthful, rambunctious American Republic.\u00a0 Somewhat surprisingly, de Tocqueville discussed at length the role and function of jury duty.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

Although de Tocqueville recognized the jury as a \u201cjuridical institution,\u201d that is, a body that renders verdicts, he was more interested in the jury as a \u201cpolitical institution.\u201d\u00a0 He argued that the jury \u201cputs the real control of affairs into the hands of the ruled, or some of them, rather than into those of the rulers.\u201d\u00a0 The jury was a vehicle through which the citizenry could exercise its sovereignty.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, jury duty struck de Tocqueville as a \u201cfree school.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cJuries, especially civil juries,\u201d he thought, \u201cinstill some of the habits of the judicial mind into every citizen, and just those habits are the very best way of preparing people to be free.\u201d\u00a0 As a form of \u201cpopular education,\u201d jury duty offers practical lessons in the law and teaches jurors their rights under the law.<\/p>\n

Overall, de Tocqueville was pleased Americans took eagerly to jury duty and felt robust, active juries were extremely important in the success of the nation.\u00a0 Jury duty, he said, \u201cmakes men pay attention to things other than their own affairs\u201d and thereby \u201ccombat that individual selfishness which is like rust in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

How disappointed de Tocqueville would be learn how people perceive jury duty in the present.\u00a0 While people who actually serve on juries tend to say their experiences were positive ones, a huge percentage of Americans dread receiving a summons for jury duty and do their best to avoid serving.\u00a0 Websites such as \u201cHow to Get Out of Jury Duty\u201d and \u201c10 Ways to Avoid Jury Duty\u201d are popular.<\/p>\n

In the average year, approximately 32 million Americans are summoned, but only 8 million report.\u00a0 One-eighth of the summons cannot be delivered, and another one-sixteenth of those summoned simply fail to show up.\u00a0 Many others seek and obtain waivers, exceptions, and exemptions, with reasons ranging from economic hardship and limited English to felony convictions and studying for a bar exam.\u00a0 Some of the claims are pure and true, but many are not.<\/p>\n

No single reason explains the contemporary aversion to jury duty, and for some it is just a gut reaction.\u00a0 Surveys have found that people who are summoned cite two major reasons for their reluctance to serve: (1) juries do not make a difference and (2) jury duty is inconvenient.<\/p>\n

Why has jury duty become burdensome and uninspiring?\u00a0 What has caused the idea of serving on a jury to plummet since de Tocqueville\u2019s time?\u00a0 The jury itself, in my opinion, is not the primary reason for the decline.\u00a0 The issue is the type of society in which the jury functions.\u00a0 We have evolved from a young, eager democracy full of people on the make into a mass society in which community ties are weak and ennui is widespread and even stylized.\u00a0 In a society of this latter sort, jury duty has difficulty finding and holding its place.\u00a0 Jury duty strikes many as irrelevant and annoying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French aristocrat sent by his country to inspect American penitentiaries during the 1830s.\u00a0 He dutifully delivered his report, but he also found himself interested in more than penitentiaries.\u00a0 In Democracy in America (1835), he provided a wide-ranging and to this day highly regarded account of life in the youthful, rambunctious 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