Of all pertinent civic duties in the United States, jury service is possibly the most crucial and impactful one. Judges and juries work as a team to help withstand the civil liberties and rights of citizens and that protection of rights is one of the founding principles of the country. Those liberties are due in large part to the system of jury service
There is a Jury Selection and Service Act that helps establish the process by which jurors are selected. This act outlines certain qualifications for sitting on a federal jury. There are two varieties of these juries and they are a petit jury or trial jury and a grand jury.
The first of two juries, A civil petit jury is most commonly comprised of anywhere from 6 to 12 jurors. During this kind of the trial, the jury is charged with listening attentively to the testimony and evidence and then subsequently deciding if the defendant in some way injured the plaintiff in some way or neglected to perform a legal duty to the plaintiff. The jury is then tasked with determining the consequence and compensation of that action.
A criminal petit jury is most commonly comprised of 12 members and is used to decide if a crime was committed by the defendent. In this instance, the sentence is decided by the judge.
A grand jury can consists of anywhere from 16 to 23 members and is used for a more specific purpose. This jury is presented with evidence from the United States Attorney. Members of the jury are then charged with determining if there is "probable cause" that a crime has been committed by the defendant. If probable cause is found, a trial begins. If the grand jury decides that there is adequate evidence present against the defendant, they can issue an indictment. These proceedings are typically not open to the public.
Selecting jurors is a process by which individuals are picked from a designated pool of random citizens who are registered voters. Potential jurors respond to a list of questions to determine their qualifications. After teh questionnaires are completed, jurors are picked at random regardless of any identifying features such as race, age, gender, or any voluntary affiliation.
