I’m one of those rare people who seems to have danced between the raindrops when it comes to being called for jury duty. Back in the days when we lived in the west Chicago suburbs, I was called once for jury duty and had to make the proverbial call the night before to see if I had to show up. Well, that time I got a pass…
Although I lucked out several times and didn’t have to appear in court for jury selection, one time I had to actually go down and appear before the judge. They had failed to excuse me before the appearance but when I showed up with airline tickets for a vacation over spring break with the kids, I was released and haven’t had to appear since – until early last week, that is…
Since we have lived in our current home, a little more than nine years now, both Janet and I have had to fill out the questionnaire several times for service in the Hamilton County Court. Janet pretty much gets an automatic pass based on her arthritis. And I thought that since I had friends in law enforcement and had been involved in several law suits, when I was much more active in the business world, I would be an automatic dismissal.
However, that wasn’t the case. And since I only work several days a week, I was kind of intrigued at the prospect of actually having the experience of serving on a jury. I decided that if it was to be, that was fine with me. Of course, I wasn’t going to lie to get on a jury, or to avoid serving on one.
In any event, although I was a little anxious about the process, I was determined to get the full measure of the experience and live in the moment. I checked in at the Court House and found that I would be juror number 14 out of 66 people called that day. Since my number was so low, I was in the first group of people to enter the court and be seated in the jury box.
After instructions that were presented by video and a live 30 minute introduction by the judge, we found that the defendant was accused of beating his girlfriend and then strangling her with the apparent intent to kill her. As odd as it sounds, my heart sank…
I knew what was coming… the prosecution asked if any of us had ever been a victim of a violent crime. Reluctantly, I raised my hand, along with two other people, and the prosecution immediately started to question me about my encounter.
Although I don’t talk about it often, I was attacked by three young men in high school during my sophomore year. This was after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, 55 years before to the day I was called to jury duty. In fact, that day, April 4th this year, would have also been Dad’s 100th birthday.
When I was attacked, one person held my arms, the second wrapped a motorcycle chain around my neck to strangle me and the third beat me senseless with a lead pipe to my head. When I came to, I actually attended drafting class right next to the place in the corridor where I was beaten… One of the three people who hurt me was actually in my drafting class and I knew who he was. Of course, his friends denied that he was even in school that day and the case was never prosecuted.
It probably comes as no surprise that I was dismissed by the defense attorney. I can’t say that I blame him but I was kind of hoping that I would be involved in some sort of a case where I wouldn’t have to be excused.
The idea of judges came from the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro could see that the job of settling disputes was becoming too great for Moses to handle. Therefore, he suggested the idea of appointing judges who could handle the lesser disputes while the most major arguments went to Moses. The system worked rather well and eventually, juries were brought into existence as well – around the time of the Magna Carte in 1215. The primary reason was to show that the king and the wealthy were not above the law.
Our verse for tonight comes from the book of Exodus and the very start of the judicial system. We are told in Exodus 18:26, “They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.”
My encouragement this evening is that we live in a country where we have a responsibility to answer the call to jury duty if we are able to impartially weigh in on the dispute in question. It is one of our rights and privileges of living in this great country. My prayer is that if you are called to serve that you will lean into the experience and learn more about how our justice system operates by being an active participant. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…