A Call to Duty: Why Jury Service Matters

A Call to Duty: Why Jury Service Matters

Professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson's Why Jury Duty Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Constitutional Action (NYU Press, 2012) should be read by every adult in this nation and by every youth before reaching 18 years of age, not only for its historical content, but for its message that jury service by every eligible person is critical to protecting the life and lib- erty of every person living in the United States and protects the individual from the tyranny of govern- ment. It is a check in criminal cases against the abuse of power by the prosecutor and law enforcement offi- cials that can be leveled against an individual, while reflecting the conscience of the community. In jury trials, the panel of jurors has greater power than even the judge, for the jury may acquit even if the judge in a trial would have found the accused guilty. As arbiters of the facts in the endeavor to determine the truth as to what happened, jurors have the final say as to the application of the law to...