Do Americans Really Care About Justice? - Society

It was many years ago that I was working in a large brokerage firm in New York City. It being in this very firm where I was employed in the mutual funds department and worked under a woman who I found to very capable as well as intelligent. She being a person who was very well organized, calm, precise and spoke with such clarity that even somebody like myself, who prior to my arrival at the company had no knowledge what so ever of mutual funds or finance; understood her. I will not mention her by name yet she was somebody who simply seemed to have abilities which I could see would take her as far as her ambition wished her to go yet one day something happened. It was not something which lowered her in my esteem yet it did make me see something regarding the attitude of many Americans.

I, at the time being the one whose task it was to open and distribute the mail in the department, found out that this lady; who was in fact my boss had been ordered to serve jury duty. Jury duty being a service people in America are asked to perform which requires them to serve in a court of law to determine if somebody is innocent or guilty or perhaps on somebody?s behalf or perhaps against somebody. This being part of a person?s civic duty though not really a legal obligation as is also the case with casting a vote during elections. It being a basic fact that just about anybody who has a job which pays more than 30,000 dollars a year in America can get out of serving jury duty.

My boss, I imagine though I can not say with certainty probably earned 50,000 a year which made her exempt from jury duty and of course there was also her job as manager of a mutual funds department to be considered. I, for myself however wondered that if one looked at it from another point of view. This being the point of view that if she, who with all due respect was not rich or was not a top executive by any stretch of the imagination, could so easily get out of jury duty given that her job took priority; than who were the ones who actually had to serve jury duty apart from the unemployed? Of course always taking in to consideration that those who served on jury duty were paid a mere 2 or 3 dollars a day plus meals.

It almost goes without saying that the manager of my department got out of serving jury duty given her job and position in the firm which were not even all that crucial as to have to label them a matter of life or death. This as would be the case with a surgeon or perhaps a top politician yet despite the fact; she did manage not to have to serve as a juror in a trial. I, for my part can not say I blame her much yet it did come to mind that she would have probably made an excellent juror given what I have already mentioned. All of which leading me to the conclusion that a country like the United States which prides itself on its legal system is basically dependent on the unemployed, people on welfare, students and those who perform minimum wage jobs to make choices in a court of law.

In this I do not wish it to be understood that I do not believe the above mentioned capable of making such choices but to a certain extent such people, of limited means might tend to feel certain sympathies for criminals; who they perhaps see as victims of the American system. This specially applying to civil law suits in which the plaintive is destitute and going up against a large company. It being in such cases that those of the jury will perhaps tend to rule in favor of the plaintive even if he or she not always be in the right. This perhaps being one of the reasons why so many in America win trials against large companies in law suits which sometimes do not even make sense and perhaps should not have even gone as far as a trial.

In this argument, one could also mention people who should have been found guilty given the overwhelming evidence against them yet were not due to jurors; who perhaps given their limited education or understanding of certain matters were easily persuaded by sentimental arguments. These factors perhaps being those which lead to Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson and a certain young woman who was recently accused of killing her baby to be found innocent.

It is as I am writing this article that I am reminded of a film I saw many years ago entitled ?A Case Of Rape? in which a woman is raped twice by the same man. The first time this woman being raped in her own apartment yet contrary to going to the police, she decided to try to forget what had happened and even took a shower which removed all the evidence. It was at this point that this woman (whose husband was away) felt that she was past the worst of it yet the man who had raped her would proof her to be in error.

As he would once against rape her yet not in her own apartment but in the garage of the building she and her husband lived in. It being on this second occasion however that this man?s violent act of rape would take place in front of a witness who did not interfere or call the police; not being really sure if what he was seeing was an act of rape or a voluntary act of love making.

It was after this second rape that this woman whose part was played by Elizabeth Montgomery; (best known for her role in the sitcom ?Bewitched?) finally goes to the police and presses charges. Naturally, as can be expected a trial follows yet despite all the evidence; the man who had raped her was found innocent of all charges.

I however for my part, remember one particular scene in this film in which the man playing the husband of the woman who was rapped; asks his wife?s lawyer why the members of the jury looked the way they did. It being then that his wife?s lawyer understands exactly what he is getting at and asks if what he really meant to say is why they appear to be so poor. It being precisely this what he had in mind yet it is at this point in the film that perhaps one of the real issues of the film is raised.

The lawyer asking him if he earned a good salary and had a good education which he answered with a certain sense of pride that he did yet after having answered; he was reminded of how he was once called to jury duty yet managed to get out of it. The man then feeling slightly ashamed that he had as he was finally seeing for himself what happens when people of intelligence and ability opt for not loosing money or time from work over serving on a jury. The lawyer then declaring in a sarcastic manner that perhaps that is the problem with the American legal system, that those who are educated, intelligent and well paid always manage to avoid jury duty yet they are the ones who complain most about the lack of justice in American courts.

Naturally, the reason I am even taking the time to mention this film is because it was based on a true story and though certain names might have been changed to protect certain individuals; it does tell a true story about the American judicial system. It being a system which in its refusal to pay jurors a descent amount of money to make difficult decisions along with the ease in which it allows certain individuals to avoid having to perform this service; has been left with people who perhaps are very biased against certain elements of society. Of course in all this one could argue why is it that those who serve as weekend warriors in the reserves are given time off from work without encountering any problems from their employers? This while those who would have to make choices concerning not only millions of dollars in a law suit or life and death in a criminal case are not given the same consideration.

I, for my part would say that the American legal system is a good system which like any other in the world could be improved yet I also believe that paying those who serve on jury duty higher wages would be a way of doing just that. As it would bring about a broader variety of people, from all walks of life with diverse points of view which perhaps would not be pursued to let a rapist go free simply because his victim wore a mini-skirt or perhaps had more than one lover in her life. Of course in all this one could also pass laws which make serving on a jury mandatory much in the way military service was in the days of the draft. This way guaranteeing that a jury will not only be comprised of the unemployed, people on welfare and college students but most of the elements of society.

Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/do-americans-really-care-about-justice-7d2f5bb34810.html

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