Celebrating Juror Appreciation Week: Real impact

Taylor Haas is an attorney at Johnson, Vorhees, & Martucci Law Firm in Joplin. A graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, he represents District 10 on The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers’ Section Council. 

It can be easy for jurors to forget or not even know how crucial their service is to our system of justice. Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and U.S. president, said: "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor, ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."  

One of my local judges puts it more succinctly. At the beginning of every jury trial, he tells the potential jurors that the two highest forms of civic duty are voting and jury service. These, he says, are the most direct impact we as American citizens have upon our government and community. None of our other rights give us as loud a voice in our communities or as impactful a restraint upon our government.  

In celebration of Juror Appreciation Week, let’s take a minute to recognize the contribution of juries – and the real people, decisions, and impact behind them. Juror Appreciation Week is April 26-May 2, and it serves as an opportunity to honor Missourians who have performed this civic duty in the last year.  

Jurors impact our government  

When I was prosecuting criminal cases in Jasper County, I told every jury I stood in front of that it was my job to prove to them that the defendant was guilty, and that it was their job to make sure I convince them before issuing a verdict of guilty.  

Possibly the most important impact jurors have is to restrain prosecutors. Our right to due process means that instead of a defendant having to prove their innocence, the prosecutor has the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, their guilt no matter who they are. Those legal rights, which are guaranteed to us under the United States Constitution are protected and upheld by jurors.  

Jurors serve as an essential safeguard for our justice system, fulfilling a role the founding fathers envisioned to ensure fair and impartial trials. By bringing their diverse perspectives to the courtroom, jurors provide a vital layer of accountability that protects residents’ rights and upholds the integrity of the legal process.  

Jurors impact our communities  

With their verdicts, jurors declare their community’s standards and the value of the harm suffered by a victim.  

For example, in April 2021, a Jasper County jury recommended a sentence that totaled 628 years for a criminal defendant they found guilty of crimes against children. This verdict shouts from the rooftops for all to hear, “Our community values children’s safety and punishes those who harm them.”  

In the spring of that same year, a Greene County jury awarded a plaintiff $34 million when a healthcare provider’s negligent care during an infant’s delivery resulted in lifelong injuries to the baby. This verdict declares, “In our community, when you make a mistake, you must make it right.”  

Jurors impact the parties  

At the beginning of every jury trial in Missouri, the judge reads the following, solemn jury instruction:  

[T]he trial of a lawsuit involves a considerable amount of time, effort, and expense, and the parties are entitled to have their rights finally determined. The failure on your part to follow the rules and instructions I give to you may result in a miscarriage of justice, and a new trial may be required.  

Jury trials are a zero-sum game; no matter how the jury decides, the parties on both sides of the courtroom will have huge impacts on their lives. A plaintiff who receives full value for their loss will be able to afford future treatment they need. A criminal defendant who is acquitted no longer has to worry about incarceration or other consequences of a conviction. A crime victim whose abuser is convicted is finally safe. All because of jurors.  

It’s easy to brush off a jury summons as an inconvenience and participate in the age-old tradition of trying to get out of jury duty. But the impact jurors have on our government, our communities, and the individuals involved in lawsuits is so important to us as a nation that our founding fathers cemented it in the very structure of our government by guaranteeing us the right to trial by jury. Your service as jurors matters and its impact cannot be understated.  

From one trial lawyer in the southwest corner of our great state, members of the jury, I thank you for your service.