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Answer by Sabrina Ali, former juror:
I served on a grand jury once, and I loved it! I’m excited to do it again one day. Here’s what I enjoyed about it.
I learned a lot about the criminal justice system. If you aren’t a bit of a Law and Order nerd, this part might not appeal to you. But if you’ve ever wondered how the justice system actually works, jury duty will bring you one step closer to understanding that. For example, it’s one thing to believe, in theory, that indigent defendants struggle in the court system. It’s quite another to actually see that in practice—to see a defendant get swallowed by the system because he or she didn’t really understand what was going on when he or she was arrested and don’t really understand what’s going on even at the grand jury proceeding.
I learned a lot about drugs. Drug crime is pretty interesting! Sad and scary and violent and fraught with social and moral issues, but definitely interesting. I’m not going to give details on actual cases, of course, but during the course of jury duty I learned:
- Which street corners in my city feature the most drug deals and sting ops
- Some of the tactics of the incredibly brave and cool undercover officers who take down the drug dealers
- Some of the drug dealer and cop lingo and general terminology
- How the police get defendants to inadvertently confess or give up damning evidence when they are arrested (I’m particularly glad I learned this, in case I’m ever arrested)
- What the actual punishments are for various common drug felonies
I got to influence outcomes. The prosecutors probably hated me because I was highly vocal during the proceedings and deliberations (I’m pretty sure they wanted us to just go with the flow and not be too active). But this was my favorite part of being on the jury.
I got to ask questions to the prosecutor and witnesses. During the proceedings, grand jurors can ask questions (at least where I lived). This was important for our jury—sometimes a juror’s questions would expose important information about a case. It was also fun to think critically and assess whether we had enough information to indict on the charges the prosecutor had put before us, and asking questions was an important way of getting the information we needed to come to that conclusion.
I got to participate in deliberations. After the prosecutor had presented his or her case, we would deliberate. I love debate and discussion, so this was right up my alley. It had been a while since I’d advocated for something in front of a group of people, so this was a lot of fun for me.
I met some interesting people. The jury was a cross-section of adults living in the same city that I was living in, so I met a lot of people I would never have met otherwise. I knew that I’d been siloed into certain social groups based on my job and background, but I never realized the concrete impact of that until this experience.
It was really different from my normal life. I was working in finance, so jury duty was a pretty drastic break from my normal life. It gave me the chance to exercise a lesser-used part of my brain and be a little bit different from my “work personality.” And it was two weeks long—enough time for a true break, but not enough time to get bored.
So if you get summoned for jury duty, it won’t necessarily be a terrible experience, depending on your interests. I’m looking forward to serving again one day, though I imagine that I’m an anomaly like that.
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