In Massachusetts, there are only four requirements for a person to be eligible for jury duty: Must be a citizen of the United States, a legal adult, “a resident of Massachusetts or live in Massachusetts for more than 50% of the year,” and be able to “speak and understand English sufficiently well to be able to participate in a trial'. Especially in Boston, where the college population is so high, these broad parameters leave many students eligible for jury duty and that eligibility may have implications for the jury duty process. A juror may be called to participate in a trial that may extending up to several weeks or as short as a daymaking jury duty particularly challenging for full-time students.
Sarah Popeck, a sophomore majoring in data science and economics at Northeastern University, received her call the week of January 7th and is called for April 17th. With testing held on weekdays, her call immediately interferes with classes and final exams—an obstacle for many students.
“I plan to push it back,” Popek said. “…It would basically be a total hindrance to my education if I served my civic duty and was on a jury, so I've pushed it to sometime in December when I know I'll be here because I don't have a full-time residency here.”
Cameran Ko, a fourth-year business administration and finance student at Northeastern University, was summoned to trial in May 2023, a time when she would no longer be in the Boston area. In her home state of New Jersey, she was able to delay jury duty without a future date set because she is a full-time student, however, in Massachusetts, she was asked to reschedule her jury date. Ko appeared before the jury in September and was released after eight hours.
“I personally don't think it's fair to require out-of-state students to serve,” Ko said. “Especially because I was able to get out of jury duty in New Jersey, I expected the same from Massachusetts. I had to miss a lot of my classes that day and obviously the teachers are very understanding, but it was a very frustrating and annoying process because I'm not from here.”
However, despite the inconvenience that jury duty can cause full-time students, many legal professionals actually see jury service as a significant benefit. Patrick Garrity, associate criminal defense attorney at Brad Bailey Lawa Massachusetts-based company, explained the ways in which college-age participation differentiates the jury.
“I used to work for another attorney in the past and I assisted in three murder trials,” Garrity said. “And with Boston being such a college town, it gives a lot of diversity in terms of the students that are invited because people come here from all walks of life and all parts of the world.”
Additionally, in the summer, when many out-of-state students leave town and return home, the jury selection process can sometimes be hampered.
“Students are here in gigantic areas,” Garrity said. “They come in during the school year, and when they leave and we have a summer test, the pool for diversity might be lower because the students just aren't around.”
Matthew Peterson, owner of Matthew Peterson Lawalso emphasizes the importance of college-age participants in the jury duty process.
“I think this system itself is very educational and participating in jury duty will be very educational for the students,” Peterson said. “You can learn a lot in the courtroom. Educate yourself about how your government works. Not to mention we're losing your perspective, if all intelligent conscientious people didn't participate in the jury system, then they wouldn't be able to make decisions.''
However, Peterson acknowledges that jury duty can take a toll on a student's education and the challenges that missing many courses can present.
“Every time I've seen a potential juror who's in college, there's always that question, 'Can they afford to miss another class?' and a lot of times they end up making excuses because they can't afford to miss class,” Peterson said.
Missing a day or more of school can cause a huge disruption in the lives of students like Popeck and Ko who are on jury duty. Peterson ultimately implores students to consider the value of participating in jury duty.
“The jury system is really the purest form of direct democracy. it's a place where you can directly participate in government, and that's unique,” Peterson said. “It's one of the only places where an individual can actually check the power of government directly.”
Editor's note: Cameran Ko previously served as The News' Advertising Director, and Sarah Popeck currently serves as a staff writer.
