“Who speaks for the jury?” the judge asks ritually, looking down at us from his bench through wire-framed glasses and shifting his shoulders under his robe.
“I do,” I say with an anxious dry mouth, standing and avoiding eye contact with either counsel. We have deliberated conscientiously for two days and I am confident with our verdict, but serving as the spokesperson for these eight other people whom I met only two-and-a-half weeks ago but already know well is the sort of responsibility that makes me shake.
“Alright,” he nods. “Please hand your verdict to the security officer.”
I hand off the papers, and return to my seat, then watch the judge thumb pages and consider lines dispassionately.
“Alright,” he says and returns the verdict to be read.
What are the odds I’d be the foreperson on a jury in federal court?
Well, while I’m not certain of all the sources from which the U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky draws names for its jury wheel, it’s fairly safe for me to assume that voter registration records constitute at least one component of the pool.
Making a rough estimate based on figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 532,000 people of voting age living in Jefferson County, Kentucky alone.
U.S. Census data suggest that somewhere between 71 and 74 percent of eligible voters are actually registered to vote, at least nationwide. If we take the conservative figure and assume registration around Louisville is similar to that of the country in general, it’s safe to assume a list for potential jury selection containing the names of well over 375,000 citizens.
The U.S. District Court Western District of Kentucky draws from 11 counties surrounding Louisville and reaching toward Paducah. The counties around Louisville are among the most densely populated in the commonwealth, so the actual number of potential jurors must be a great deal higher. Still, let’s say that at a minimum, ones likelihood of receiving a summons for jury selection in U.S. District court around Louisville and Western Kentucky are about 1 in 375,000. That is to say, not very high.
I don’t know how many of those who receive a summons are actually called to report for selection– probably not all–but to make it easy, let’s just imagine that if your number comes up, you have to go down to 6th and Broadway sometime during your period of service. Fifty potential jurors were called to report to jury selection for the trial on which I served. It was a nine-person jury, so let’s call that odds of 1 in 5 of actually getting on the jury and missing a few weeks of work.
I’m not great with math, but that sounds like 1 in 1,875,00 odds for being on the jury. One might have better luck with the lottery. The odds of later being elected foreperson: 1 in 16,875,000.
A week after the verdict was read, I’m still thinking about my time on jury duty now and again.
It may surprise you that I believe in the jury system a little more as a result of the experience. It wasn’t easy to find consensus among nine jurors, but I think it would be even harder for a lone judge to produce a sound decision in many cases.
Odds are I will never be called to serve again, but then, I have funny luck.