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Show li D LEGAL BRIEFS Jury Duty Is A Citizen's Responsibility liy Michael F. Collcy President Association of Trial Lawyers of America As U.S. citizens, we nro likely to have only two opportunities to take a direct part in the process of our government. Ono is when we elect public officials to the ndministrntivc, legislative unci judicial branches of local, stale or national government. The other is when we are personally called upon for jury duly to shield or protect our fellow Americans from possible judicial or administrative administra-tive injustice in the courts. Each year the U.S. court system calls upon nt least m lIMllilil HIH.1W ii l ll a million Amcricnn citizens to serve as jurors ju-rors on some 200,000 juries. ju-ries. Just about anyone any-one can be called to serve as n Michael F. Colley j ror ,,ut there are some general qualifications. qualifi-cations. In most slates, you must be an American citi.en, n local resident, at least 21 years of age, have good character, ordinary Intelligence, nnd bp able to read, write and understand under-stand the English language. The assembly of a jury panel is normally carried out. by n jury commissioner who selects names from a variety of sources such ns voter reg istration rolls, census records, property and tax rolls, vehicle registration records nnd even city telephone directories. After n person has qualified quali-fied ns a juror, their name is then plnced in a general ballot box from which all trial jurors are drawn ns they arc needed. Drawing names for jury duty must be done publicly, ns it is the lnw. After the desired number of nnmes have been drawn, each juror is served a notice specifying the time and place where he or she is required to appear. This is not a request that can be ignored. It is a legal summons nnd must be obeyed. Hut jury duty doesn't take forever. Usually, a jury duty call runs from five days to three weeks, unless you become be-come involved in n lengthy criminal (rial or if you are on n grand jury. Pay for jury duly ranges from n low of $3 a day in Colorado to n high of $1G n day in Massachusetts. Being summoned for jury duly and its impending responsibility re-sponsibility is an honor, and you should not regard it ns an unwanted Intrusion Into your personal life. It recognizes that you are a U.S. citizen nnd n resident in good standing of your community. It, also means that you will have an opporl unify to play an nrlive part In our democratic form of government, nnd see Hint justice Is (lone in our court system. |