Fast Pass for Service: How We Could Get People to Love Jury Duty

The Problem

Civic duty does not pay—at least not much. In Texas, for instance, jurors must be paid at least $6.00 per day.  Of course, a Commissioners Court could also decide to pay nothing for all those jurors who spent their day waiting to be picked but were sent home. No $6.00 for you.

Numerous, excellent articles have been written advocating for better jury pay. This is not going to be one of them. Pay should certainly increase so that the working poor, and also the non-working poor, have a chance to bring their insight to jury deliberations, but that is a different article. Instead, why don't we give people what they really want, a shortcut around all the governmental red tape, or more specifically, past the line.

Average Americans are required to interact with a number of government agencies. Even if only considering the state level agencies, it is a large number. People have to get new pictures for their driver's license. They need to speak to someone at the County Tax Assessor's Office about their property appraisal. They have to change the address on their vehicle registration, get a copy of their child's birth certificate, fill out financial assistance paperwork, register to vote, and handle that parking ticket. The list goes on, and it gets longer if we add on the federal level where people must get a passport, handle social security changes, address Medicare issues, or maybe get that TSA Pre-✓interview scheduled. What if we could reward jurors for their service by moving them past all of those lines?

Proposal One: Bring the Government to the People

As a thought experiment, what if the government brought representatives of those agencies into the jury waiting area and allowed potential jurors to take care of their issues right there?   

Some might argue that this is impractical. How could various jurisdictions place someone from each of these agencies at the courthouse? 

First, many of these agencies are located near the courthouse anyway, but jurors cannot walk out of the waiting area and use them. We would simply be bringing an employee to them. One employee would rotate to the jury duty area on the day of the week jury selection is made. 

But this solution would also mean new challenges. With the increased number of cyber attacks on government agencies, how do we provide secure electronic access for these mobile employees to enter data and do their jobs? What do we do when jury selection occurs on multiple days of the week? What if the agency simply does not have enough employees to send someone to the jury area? These logistical issues might mean that having a physical employee from each agency is infeasible in certain situations, but even this is not an insurmountable obstacle to moving jurors beyond the lines.

 Proposal Two: Bring the People Past the Lines

Where the full number of those arriving for jury duty could not be served or where the aforementioned problems make the physical presence of employees impractical, jurisdictions could provide the prospective juror with a governmental fast pass. Essentially, this would be one pass allowing the registered individual to bypass all state agency lines for one year. Imagine a card that simply gets a person passed every governmental line. Governments already do something similar by allowing people to avoid certain security lines through programs like the TSA Pre-✓ or by showing a concealed handgun license. Here, jury duty would bestow upon the bearer the same kind of benefits in exchange for showing up for their civic duty. Even where it would be possible to address the logistical problems above, citizens would likely prefer this card. Likely, the only added cost becomes the cost of printing and processing the card itself. Because the card does not need to be a photo ID, that cost would likely be very low.

Some might argue that rewarding jurors with means of avoiding lines is unnecessary. Doesn't the internet allow people to skip government lines already? All too often, it does not.

First, many changes or applications cannot be submitted online. Those who need a change of photo for a driver's license, update their previous license to the new Real ID standard, or those who need to renew a commercial driver's license often do not have the option of online transactions. Voter registration cannot be submitted online in Texas. In Washington, appealing property taxes must be done by mail or in person. The list of governmental restrictions on online applications goes on and on.

Second, even if an online submission is available, it may not be a viable solution. Perhaps the card or form is needed with short notice; someone must go in to retrieve the document. To everyone who suddenly realizes that they need a long-form birth certificate instead of the short form, who realizes their passport has expired at the eleventh hour, or who simply missed the online deadline, you will likely be waiting in a line. 

Third, even when the website could work, government websites are not known for their user friendly features or clear instructions. You need to complete a form, but there are four different options depending on different legal statuses that you don't understand? Thank goodness you can simply go down to the courthouse, walk to the front of the line, and find the answer fast.

Conclusion

Instead of spending the money on a juror pay raise, give the people what they want. Get them past the lines. Give them the opportunity to take care of their civic duty and their honey-do list all at once. Time is money, but if we aren't going to pay better than $6.00 per day, maybe we can at least offer more time on the other side of that equation. Chances are that when people see others showing a card and getting to the front of the line, they are going to want one too. Imagine if the new problem was too many people showing up for jury duty?