Mike Aamodt, Bobbie Raynes, Dale DrewryRadford University (Radford, Virginia)

Use of Juries in the United States• U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial

– 6th, 7th, and 14th amendments• Frequency

– Approximately 3 million people called to jury duty each year

– 120,000 jury trials per year– 90% of all jury trials in the world are held in the United

States• Civil Cases

– 75% are settled prior to trial– Other than personal injury cases, juries are seldom chosen

• Criminal Cases– Juries used in 50% of trials in federal district courts– Juries used in 10% of state trial courts

Jury PayDepends on State and County

• States pay a certain amount, counties can usually add to that– Missouri pays $6 per day– St. Louis County, MO adds another $12 for a total of $18

• Many states pay one rate for being called to jury duty and a higher rate if actually chosen to serve on a jury

• The Low– Illinois ($4), Georgia ($5), Texas & Missouri ($6)

• The High– Federal government and West Virginia pay $40 a day

• Virginia: State pays $30 a day• No pay for first few days

– Employer must pay regular wages– Colorado, no pay for first 3 days, $50 after that– Connecticut, no pay for first 5 days, $50 after that

Where do we get our jurors?

H.L. MenckenOn Jury Duty

A jury is “a group of twelve people who, having lied to the judge about their hearing, health and business engagements, have failed to fool him.”

Choosing a JuryDrawing a Pool of Jurors - Venire

• Master list of potential jurors– Voter registration

– DMV lists

– Welfare lists

• Jurors randomly called to jury duty– Eligibility (age 18, U.S. citizen, speak English, no felony

conviction)

– Jurors excused due to hardship or recent jury duty• Child care, work, & illness are examples of hardships

• Jurors randomly called to a particular trial– Voir dire (bias, peremptory challenges)

Popularity of Jury Duty

• 2004 American Bar Association Survey– 75% said jury duty is not a burden to be avoided

– 58% considered jury duty a privilege

– 75% said they would rather have a jury try them than a judge

• The Reality– 60% called to jury duty claimed a hardship (Fukurai et al.,

1993)

– 20% of those who received a summons for a particular trial didn’t show up (Dauner, 1996)

Our Research Questions

• What percentage of people in a rural area actually agree to serve on jury duty?

• For those that are not willing, what excuses do they use?

• Which excuses work best?

• How does the final jury pool compare in age, sex, and occupation to the initial jury pool?

Research Method• Jury summonses were examined from two

rural locations– Harrisonburg, Virginia

• Citizen response• Sex• Age• Occupation

– Montgomery County, Virginia• Citizen response

• Records were not well kept

A Tale of Two Cities

Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Population 41,170 85,614

% women 52.6 47.6

% white 84.8 90.0

% with bachelor’s degree 31.2 35.9

Median household income $29,949 $32,330

Venire method DMV DMV + Voter Registration

Enforces jury summons? No Courtesy call but never arrest

A Tale of Two CitiesAre People Willing to Serve?

Response Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Number Summoned 1,153 508

Willing to serve 39.5% 36.4%

Not found 25.9%

Not qualified 7.7%

Asked for exemption 21.3% 63.6%

Asked for deferment 5.3%

56% of people found and qualified (n=762) in Harrisonburg were willing to serve

A Tale of One CityWhy Were People Not Qualified?

Excuse Harrisonburg

Not a current resident 50

Not a U.S. citizen 16

Felony conviction 13

Recent jury service 8

A Tale of Two CitiesAsking for Exemptions/Deferments

Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Summoned 1153 508

Asked for exemption

Received exemption 69.8% 20.3%

Denied exemption 30.2% 79.7%

Asked for deferment

Received deferment 77.8%

Denied deferment 22.2%

A Tale of One CityAsking for an Exemption

• Occupation– The self-employed (80%), homemakers (21.1%), and

technicians (28.6%) were most likely to ask for exemptions

– Of people for whom we had occupational information, only the self-employed received an exemption

• Sex– Men (20.4%) and women (22.3%) were equally likely to

ask for an exemption

– Men (67.2%) and women (72.4%) were equally likely to receive an exemption if requested

A Tale of Two CitiesWhat Excuses are Given for Not

Serving?

Excuse Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Medical reasons 84 94

Work-related 65 106

Child/elder care issues 26 40

Religious reasons 16 2

Vacation plans 8 144

Financial hardship 10 3

A Tale of Two CitiesWhat Excuses Work?

Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Excuse N % Success N % Success

Too old (age over 70) 6 100

Self-employed 35 100

Will be out of state 7 100

Police officer/attorney 6 100

Medical reasons 84 98 94 42

Child care issues 22 68 15 53

Work-related 25 16 106 25

A Tale of Two CitiesWhat Excuses Don’t Work?

Harrisonburg Montgomery Co

Excuse N % Success N % Success

Religious reasons 16 0 2 50

Vacation plans 8 0 144 23

Work importance 5 0

Financial hardship 10 0 3 0

Top Excuses to Get Out of Jury Duty

• I am a professional psychic so I would know who is guilty even before the trial

• I am currently in jail but if the judge will let me out, I would be happy to serve

• I'm 67 and my bladder causes me to pee quite often.  I WILL NOT serve unless you can guarantee I can pee every 30 minutes.

• Would I have to bathe?• I don’t have much of an education and don’t have any clothes

to wear*• I’m not smart enough and need to use the bathroom a lot*• Don’t like getting into other people’s problems*• Don’t believe in judging others*

Comparing the Initial Pool to the Final PoolThe Final Pool is a Little Older

Mean Age

Summoned 42.01

Served on jury duty 43.54

Not served on jury duty 40.56

t (1143) = 3.69, p < .001

Comparing the Initial Pool to the Final PoolNo Sex Differences

% Women

Summoned 48.4

Served on jury duty 48.8

Not served on jury duty 48.0

2 (1) = .08, not significant (p < .78)

Juror Education

• Education not listed on jury summons

• We looked at education needed for job0 = none or high school (e.g., factory, laborer, clerk)

1 = post-high school training (e.g., dental asst)

2 = bachelor’s degree (e.g., teacher, accountant)

3 = postgraduate (e.g., attorney, professor)

• No info available on unemployed, retired, or people not returning their summons

Comparing the Initial Pool to the Final PoolFinal Pool is Less Educated

Avg Educ

Summoned

Served on jury duty 0.60

Not served on jury duty 1.06

t (460) = 3.14, p < .002

Comparing the Initial Pool to the Final PoolFinal Pool is Less Educated

Job Education Served Not Served

None or HS diploma 57.3% 39.4%

Post high school 27.0% 33.3%

Bachelor’s degree 14.0% 9.1%

Graduate degree 1.6% 7.1%

2 (3) = 32.59, p < .001

Comparing the Initial Pool to the Final PoolOccupation

• Few occupational category differences

• No police officer or attorney served (n=6)

• Only 22% of self-employed served

• 82% of students, professionals, and vehicle drivers served

• All other occupations were 90-100%

Concluding Thoughts

• Our findings with rural towns are similar to those found by Fukurai et al. (1993) in a large city

• The final jury pool is not similar to the initial jury pool

• More research is needed because– Localities differ in building the initial roster

– Localities differ in the ease of getting an exemption

– Information must be collected in a standardized manner to allow comparisons

Questions?Michael G. Aamodt, Ph.D.Department of Psychology

Radford UniversityRadford, VA 24142-6946

(540) 831-5513maamodt@radford.edu

www.radford.edu/~maamodt

Citation Information for this Presentation

Aamodt, M. G., Raynes, B. L., & Drewry, D. (2004, October). Jury duty in America: Many are called, few choose to serve. Paper presented at the annual Meeting of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, Rome, Italy.