By Hon. Bernadette T. Clark, Supreme Court Justice
How do you react when you open your mailbox to find a summons for jury duty or grand jury duty? Certainly, that document will seize your immediate attention. It may invoke frustration, groans, or stress for some, while for others, it may trigger a sense of wonder, curiosity, or even excitement.
Like the heroes who serve and protect our country through military service, those who participate in our justice system as sworn jurors embody the very heart and soul of our democracy. Playing an active role in our system of justice is among the highest acts of service we can perform for our community. I humbly suggest that if you receive a jury summons, you should be thrilled for the opportunity—indeed, the privilege—to fulfill such a critically important civil duty.
Interestingly, white males were the only persons allowed to serve on a jury until the 1960s. It was not until 1973 that all 50 states allowed women to serve on state-level juries. Believe it or not, it was not until 1975 that the United States Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to exclude women from jury duty. For many years thereafter, no one—not lawyers, not doctors, not politicians, and not celebrities—was categorically excluded from jury service. That changed in 2019, when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law directing that breastfeeding mothers were exempt from jury service.
Jurors in New York State are selected randomly from voter registration lists, licensed drivers, tax filers, and unemployment recipients. Those selected are first sent a juror qualification questionnaire and are required to respond within ten days to the Commissioner of Jurors in their county.
If a potential juror is found to be qualified after answering the questionnaire, that individual may receive either a trial (petit) juror summons or a grand jury summons. A grand jury is made up of 23 individuals and is tasked with evaluating evidence to determine whether a person should be charged with a crime or crimes. A trial jury consists of 12 jurors in a criminal case and six jurors in a civil case. In criminal matters, the jury must determine whether the prosecution has proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil cases, jurors must decide whether the plaintiff has proven its claims by the greater weight of the evidence.
If selected for jury service, you should know you are not alone. In New York State each year, roughly 1.6 million people receive trial jury summonses and approximately 160,000 people are summoned for grand jury service. In fact, in 2007, shortly after I was elected to my first term as a Supreme Court Justice, I was randomly selected to serve as the foreperson of an Oneida County Grand Jury. Being a Judge did not prevent me from having to serve.
The number of potential jurors summoned for a trial depends upon the particulars of the case. In some criminal cases, a large pool of jurors may be summoned for voir dire, the process of jury selection. Voir dire allows the Judge and attorneys to ask questions to ensure that jurors can be fair and impartial. Jurors may be asked whether they know the parties, attorneys, witnesses, or even the Judge.
Occasionally, prospective jurors may be asked questions of a more personal nature. When this occurs, I always allow those questions to be addressed privately at the bench. This ensures the privacy of jurors while still allowing for a fair and impartial jury to be empaneled.
In the interest of full transparency, the jury selection process can, at times, be boring and tedious. Despite that, please trust me when I tell you—based on my conversations with thousands of jurors over my 36-year legal career—serving on a jury is an incredibly worthwhile and fulfilling experience.
If you are selected and sworn in as a juror, there are rules you will be required to follow. Jurors must remain unbiased, attentive, and alert. In this age of social media, jurors must refrain from posting about the case or conducting independent research. After a verdict is rendered, jurors are free to discuss their experiences.
Jurors must listen carefully and impartially to all evidence presented at trial. Only after testimony has concluded, attorneys have delivered closing arguments, and the Judge has instructed the jury on the law may deliberations begin. The length of deliberations varies greatly from case to case.
During deliberations, jurors are kept in a private room with a Court Officer guarding the door. No one is permitted to speak with the jury. Any communication with the Judge must be made in writing through the jury foreperson. If a verdict is reached, the jurors are returned to the courtroom to deliver it.
In the past, jurors in criminal cases were routinely sequestered overnight. While mandatory sequestration ended in 2001, New York Judges retain the authority to order sequestration if circumstances require.
As a Supreme Court Justice, I hear predominantly civil cases. These may involve motor vehicle negligence, medical malpractice, divorce proceedings, contract disputes, insurance coverage issues, property damage, or foreclosure matters. These are among the types of cases jurors may encounter.
In the 1990s, I had the privilege of serving Oneida County as First Assistant District Attorney, presenting hundreds of cases to the Oneida County Grand Jury. At the conclusion of their service, many grand jurors asked whether they could stay on and hear more cases. While jurors must be selected randomly, New Yorkers may now volunteer to be returned more quickly to the jury pool. Otherwise, upon completion of jury service in Oneida County, you will not be summoned again for at least the next 10 years.
From my perspective on the bench, jurors are respected, valued, and admired by the Judges and court staff of Oneida County. Your role as a juror is essential to the fair administration of justice.
As lawyer Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird, so eloquently stated in describing the importance of jurors:
“I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system—that is no ideal to me—it is a living, working reality … A court is no better than each … of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the people who make it up.”
“Those who participate in our justice system as sworn jurors embody the very heart and soul of our democracy.”
If you have questions about jury service or a juror qualification questionnaire, you may contact the Oneida County Commissioner of Jurors’ Office at (315) 266-4411.
