Commentary: Jury service is an important part of system

The court also receives over 100 requests to be excused or deferred.

Folks are regularly deferred to the next quarter if, for example, they will be in the middle of harvest or the busiest season of their work, or if their work is missing employees at that time, if they are students out of the area, or if they have a medical issue for the current term.

I suspect there is not a single person called to jury service who hasn’t had to juggle his or her schedule to respond to a jury summons.

It is never convenient to have to put your life on hold to serve as a juror, whether you are a small business owner with no backup, an employee with no paid time off, a surgeon with scheduled surgeries or a stay-at-home parent who needs to arrange child care.

I acknowledge that jury service is not convenient.

There is a balance that needs to be struck between (1) your individual needs and responsibilities and (2) your duty as a citizen to step forward for the good of the larger community to assist in making the important decisions that juries make.

Our system of justice requires a jury that is a fair cross-section of the community. The value of having jurors with different life experiences cannot be overstated.

Every eligible citizen has something to offer as a potential juror. We all need to know that citizens are available and willing to serve as jurors, should a family member or friend be in the position of needing a fair jury.

Given your obligation to pay taxes, to serve in the military and to serve as jurors, jury service is probably the least burdensome and the most satisfying.

Many of the folks who ask to be excused are self-employed or the sole employees of a business. Many ask to be excused because they are the breadwinner for their family, and will not make enough money to pay rent if they are called to serve.

We do not excuse these jurors.

Many requests also come from citizens in the medical and dental profession asking to be excused based on a need to serve their patients.

We likewise do not routinely excuse medical professionals.

As you can imagine, I am passionate about having enough diverse jurors to sit on all of our trials.

I am also very conscious of being consistent and fair to all of our potential jurors. It is not fair for me to excuse a physician from one organization and not excuse a physician or dentist from another organization.

Likewise, it is not fair to excuse a physician and not excuse the self-employed hairdresser, or the stay-at-home parent, or the farm worker from Antelope who will not only miss a day’s pay, but also must drive two hours to and from the courthouse.

It is important to all of us to have a substantial number of diverse jurors to serve on our trials.

It would not be fair for those involved in civil cases, victims, or people charged with crimes, to have only the unemployed and retired sitting as jurors.

Should you, a friend, or a family member be in the position to need a fair jury because you are injured and have a civil case, are a victim of a crime, are involved in a dispute with a neighbor, or have been charged with a crime, certainly you would appreciate a substantial group of eligible jurors.

Jurors attend an orientation and serve on a couple of jury trials during the three-month term. Sometimes jurors do not serve at all.

The jury coordinator is very willing to work with jurors’ schedules regarding days they are unable to serve and days that are best for them to be called.

If you are summoned, try it. You might like it! In fact, you are likely to find your service very rewarding.

— Janet Stauffer is an elected judge from Wasco County and also serves citizens in Sherman, Wheeler, Hood River and Gilliam counties.