Who Gets to Be on the Jury

“And no subject shall be arrested, imprisoned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, put out of the protection of the law, exiled, deprived of his life, liberty, or estate, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. And the legislature shall not make any law, that shall subject any person to a capital or infamous punishment, excepting for the government of the army and navy, without trial by jury.”

Massachusetts was also the first to impanel African-Americans on a jury, in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War. Francis Clough, 45, a freeman born in Worcester, and William Jenkins, a former slave, became the first African-American jurors in Massachusetts when they served in the Worcester Superior Court. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison wrote with approval in his Liberator in the June 1860 issue: 

“The fact that colored citizens of Worcester (Francis U. Clough and William H. Jenkins) had been recently drawn as jurymen – the first such instances in the history of Massachusetts – was appropriately commented upon and hailed as an encouraging sign of the times.”

Women would not be given the right to perform jury service in Massachusetts until 1950, almost 100 years after Clough and Jenkins were impaneled in Worcester. 

“Juries were generally made up of people from a limited demographic”

“Massachusetts was […] the first [state] to impanel African-Americans on a jury, in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War. Francis Clough, 45, a freeman born in Worcester, and William Jenkins, a former slave, became the first African-American jurors in Massachusetts when they served in the Worcester Superior Court.”

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A Brief History of the Criminal Jury in the United States

This group of scholars set about to document the rise of the democratic American jury. What they found in the process is strange.

“As the jury's composition became more democratic, its role in American civic life declined. We suggest neither cause nor effect, merely irony”(862)

The only people who were quickly allowed to participate in the jury upon its design were land-owning white men. The struggle for minority groups and women was long and fraught.

“The jury of 1791 seems democratic, however, only in the context of the times. Every state limited jury service to men; every state except Vermont restricted jury service to property owners or taxpayers; three states permitted only whites to serve; and one state, Maryland, disqualified atheists” (877)

The Sixth Amendment declared that every criminal defendant had the right to a fair trial.

In 1835 we hear Alexis de Tocqueville affirm the jury system

“Along with universal suffrage (a term used without any sense of irony to describe the enfranchisement of adult white men), the jury was a ‘means of making the majority prevail.’ Tocqueville called the jury a ‘free school.., in which each juror learns his rights,’ and he wrote that ‘juries teach men equity in practice.’” (876)

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By the mid 1850’s, the corruption and weakness of the jury system became more apparent. Mark Twain is quoted saying “We have a jury system that is superior to any in the world, and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men everyday who don't know anything and can't read.” (881)

It wasn’t until 1864 that Congress put forth legislation that permitted “African Americans to testify in federal courts and at the end of the Civil War, it enacted legislation declaring the right of African Americans to testify in state cases as well. 6 Opponents of these measures objected that permitting African Americans to testify against whites would lead inevitably to the inclusion of African Americans on juries. Proponents, however, disavowed this objective. Noting that women and children served as witnesses although they were ineligible for jury service, these legislators denied any connection between appearing as a witness and serving as a juror “(885)

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Though by law African Americans were allowed to serve as jurors, several Southern states kept them from the jury box until 1879 when the Federal government amended the 1875 act that allowed for discrimination in jury selection.

Race and criminal justice are complex and worth our time. We learn from our past that a legal statement is far different from and practiced form of justice. If we pay attention to our legislation and keep track of the facts, we will be better equipped to understand the inner workings of our justice system.

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Statement to the Jurors of Alabama
“Your role as a juror is an important part of the American system of justice. The protection of our rights and liberties is largely achieved through the teamwork of judge and jury who, working together in a common effort, put into practice the principles of our great heritage of freedom. The judge determines the law to be applied in the case while the jury decides the facts. Thus, in a very important way, jurors become a part of the court itself.

As part of the American system of justice, we rely on citizens just like you to carry out our responsibilities. In fact, jury service is so important that it is part of the history of this country and the U.S. Constitution itself. Citizens who have been charged with a crime are considered innocent until proven guilty. When these individuals put their liberty in the hands of a criminal judicial proceeding, they have a right to a trial by a jury of their peers. As a juror, you are among the small group of people who provide that right for your fellow citizen.

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Sources:

https://www.almd.uscourts.gov/jurors

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-the-history-of-the-jury-system