Not!!!
Recently, I had the “pleasure” of serving on the jury for three weeks on a criminal case. I had never served on the jury before and was expecting something totally different. My only understanding of what it meant to be a juror came from television and movies such as 1957’s “12 Angry Men,” later adapted for stage and screen to “12 Angry Jurors.” My only take away from the actual trial can be summed up in the word: “TRAGIC!”
BUT… My experience with my fellow jurors was quite a different thing. All fifteen of us (twelve jurors, three alternates) were very different people forced to hang out together for the three weeks. There were engineers and hairstylists, nurses and teachers. There were blue collar folks and white collar folks. There were naturalized citizens and people who have lived in northern New Jersey their entire lives. I’m sure we had progressives and conservatives in the room, although nobody spoke politics, and that in itself was very refreshing.
And of course there was a quirky love-mischief making pastor who only “works about an hour” on Sunday mornings who supplied double-stuffed OREOs early on, and danish for deliberations! FYI – I gave the extras went to the good people from the Sheriff’s office who were awesome all three weeks!
In the end, with healthy discussion and caring amidst varying points of view, all came together to render an unanimous decision. It certainly wasn’t 12 angry jurors, but 12 reasoning people placed into difficult circumstances working well together.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our whole society, including our civic leaders, could act like these reasonable adults? Imagine what could be accomplished!
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:18
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