Jury Duty

I just finished watching Jury Duty on Prime Video. If you haven’t seen it yet, please give it a watch. Don’t worry, no spoilers here that aren’t disclosed in the first episode. The American judicial system has always fascinated me, and this mockumentary chronicles the inner workings of a Southern California jury trial through the eyes of an everyday citizen Ronald Gladden, who doesn’t realize that everyone involved in the trial is an actor, except him. It’s not a real trial, but it is held in a real courthouse, and from the outside looking in, it seems to be real.

Ronald applied online to be a part of what he thought was a documentary about a California civil trial. He was told even though trials are usually never filmed or discussed outside of court, that filmmakers would have unprecedented access. He was chosen out of 2500 applicants to participate in the process. So it didn’t seem weird to him that there were cameras everywhere and that they were regularly interviewed about the proceedings since it was supposed to be a documentary.

The show takes place over three weeks through jury selection and the actual trial. The other jurors, attorneys, plaintiff, defendant, bailiff, and judge are actors and comedians who were carefully chosen to pull off the epic prank.  I use the term prank loosely. No one is making fun of Ronald. It’s quite the opposite, it is a study of human behavior.

Most of the various scenarios were rehearsed and lightly scripted prior to the filming, but because they don’t know how Ronald will react in certain situations, they have to plan for different outcomes for each scenario. One of the most excellent touches is that the actor James Marsden actually plays himself and happily allows them to make him the butt of many jokes. The chaos and crazy circumstances generate so many hilarious moments.

Why jury duty sucks

Watching this show harkened me back to a couple of months ago when I was called to jury duty. I have served on juries several times before, but always as an employee of a firm that paid me while I was doing my civic duty. This time it stung because when I don’t work, I don’t earn money since I am an independent consultant.

I was hoping it would be a one-day situation. I arrived at 8:00 am after a 45-minute drive in crushing traffic, as instructed, and settled in for the wait. I didn’t mind waiting, I could work, and people-watch. At 1:30 my number was called. Crap, it was a superior court trial which meant it would typically be a long one. They called 100 people to narrow it down to 12 and 2 alternates. They said it would probably be a three-week trial.

You’re not getting out of it

As we filed into the courtroom, I took stock of all the types of people around me. All ages, ethnicities, and social classes were among the group. As the bailiff and the judge droned on about how they knew no one wanted to be there, but that we had a responsibility to be there, I kept thinking that there has to be a better way. Everyone generally looked miserable. After their speeches, they discussed the tiny handful of ways to actually get excused and appropriately scared everyone if they had any intention of lying.

After that, they asked everyone who did not have a legitimate reason to be excused to go ahead and leave. About 75 people got up and left to return the next day for the selection process. And by the way, vacations, business trips, childcare responsibilities, or surgeries didn’t count unless you could prove that they could not be changed, or other arrangements made. But the most remarkable comment came from the judge who had the guts to say to this group, “We understand that for those of you who don’t have jobs where you get paid for jury duty, this could be a hardship. We want you to think about whether you could use your vacation or sick time or dip into your savings or borrow money to help you get by.” I audibly gasped. I couldn’t believe the judge said that out loud. Thankfully I was sitting in the back of the room so only the people around me heard my reaction. I saw some people’s heads drop as they had the realization how hard this might end up being for them.

In LA and Orange County, the cost of living and housing is so high that a huge portion of the population lives paycheck to paycheck. Many are hourly workers and if they don’t show up to work not only do they not get paid, but they could lose their job. And oftentimes they don’t have paid sick or vacation time. It’s a sad reality.

There has to be a better way

We were all given a piece of paper to write out in detail why we felt we should be excused. As for me, I had an out-of-town speaking gig that was locked in, so I had a solid excuse. But they took our responses and the judge and attorneys sent us out for 30 minutes while they perused them. Thankfully my number was called as excused and I scurried out, but I felt for those still awaiting their fate to see if their reason was ‘good enough’ to get them excused.

Contrary to the Jury Duty show where the actors all ‘acted’ like they were excited to be there for the most part, I suspect most of those that ended up in that trial grumbled under their breath during the entire three weeks. But the life lesson learned from the TV show was that it is what you make of it.

Ronald Gladden who admittedly didn’t want to lead was of course appointed foreperson. He gracefully maneuvered through ridiculous situations that were initiated to create havoc and controversy. Behind the scenes the crew referred to him as ‘hero’ and they weren’t wrong. He could have gotten mad or frustrated, but instead, he took it in stride and seemed to enjoy this odd collection of new friends and his leadership role. Was he a saint? Nope, but I feel like he behaved better than the average person would have considering the circumstances. After a planned stunt from James Marsden, that ended up requiring them to be sequestered for the entire trial, Ronald took it in stride and made the best of it.

Be like Ronald

It seems like instead of the current selection process, there could be a sorting system that identifies the people who are the least impacted by this type of service. I understand it is supposed to be ‘a jury of our peers’ so the randomness is what is important about it, but that doesn’t make it any more palatable to those who are chosen, particularly when it involves an immense hardship.

Even as the gag was being revealed to Ronald, he laughed and got a kick out of it. Others might have been mad or embarrassed by this spotlight, but he took it in stride. And it doesn’t hurt that they rewarded him with a handsome financial payday. One of his first comments after the reveal was “Oh no, does this mean I can still be called for real jury duty?” He still stays in touch with his cast mates who grew to love and admire him throughout the process. If Ronald hadn’t been such a good human, this show would have probably never aired. But how he handled everything thrown at him should be a lesson to all of us to be better at taking things in stride.

While I still don’t agree with the process in which jury duty selection is carried out, I am thankful there are more ‘Ronalds’ out there who will embrace this important temporary role and make the most of it.

“When you are going into court you are putting your fate into the hands of 12 people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty.”  ~Norm Crosby, American comedian