Our justice system isn’t much like a courtroom drama

Have you performed your civic duty recently? I did, yesterday, when I participated in a La Crosse County jury pool. I had to report for the first time in decades, and it was an interesting experience. It was unusual in that jurors were being selected yesterday morning for three separate trials. So it was crowded, with about 80 potential jurors, separated into three groups, then whittled down to the appropriate number for each trial. It was much slower than a courtroom drama, but a peek behind the scenes at just how our justice system works. Those selected as potential jurors are sometimes forced to bare their souls, as attorneys for both sides get to ask very probing and personal questions and have the right to remove those jurors who they don’t think will be favorable to their arguments. Ultimately, I was not selected to be seated on any of the juries but am glad to have participated in the process. In part because I won’t be called for duty for another four years, but also to see just how fair and deliberate this part of the proceedings was. Our system of justice may not be perfect, but from what I witnessed, it tries very hard to be.