They have arguably the most important role at trial, yet jurors tend to be the faceless champions of our judicial system, rarely recognized for their sacrifice and service.
In Fulton County, where around 310,000 residents were summonsed to jury service last year, chief judges took time Thursday to celebrate those called to decide criminal and civil cases.
Before donning robes in their respective courtrooms, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville and Fulton County State Court Chief Judge Jane Morrison stopped by the jury assembly room to thank the dozens of people waiting to see if they would be selected.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
“You play an essential role,” Morrison told the prospective jurors. “Some trials go on for days, weeks, months. And as you’re coming in today, it’s a bit of a wild card. So, we appreciate your being willing to roll with whatever comes.”
Free popcorn and other snacks were part of the Juror Appreciation Day event, as well as one-off juror swag including notebooks and button badges. In keeping with courts’ protective handling of jurors, whose identities are typically not disclosed, media personnel were asked not to film or photograph the jurors’ faces.
Jurors were summonsed in around 700 cases in Fulton’s superior and state courts last year, Glanville said, adding that just 250 of those made it to trial. He said jurors are key to resolving cases, even when they don’t make it to verdict.
“The fact that we have jurors in the building causes people to actually make decisions in their cases, because they know that people, everyday citizens, stand ready to decide their cases,” Glanville said. “We cannot conduct business in the civil and criminal justice systems without citizen participation.”
Fulton’s trial courts are among the busiest in the state. Around 1,000 jurors can present for service in a typical week, Jury Clerk Amy von Kelsch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
On any given Monday, between 500 and 700 Fulton residents pack the jury assembly room in the county’s judicial complex in downtown Atlanta. They’re summonsed at random, drawn from voter registration, driver’s license and property tax databases.
Those called to serve on juries in Fulton courts are compensated $25 a day and get free parking. Jurors receive debit cards to which funds are added once trial is over.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Glanville and Morrison said jurors typically approach service with some trepidation and even irritation, given the requirement that they clear their schedules. But many report a positive experience once they’ve served, the judges said.
“People tend to focus on the fact that it is quite a responsibility and quite a sacrifice, but there’s a positive part to it as well,” Morrison said. “It gives you a chance to be involved in important decisions in our shared civic life, and it’s a way to participate that is unique and American and kind of exciting, actually.”
Between them, Glanville and Morrison have presided over trials that were most and least burdensome on jurors.
Glanville spent almost 10 months selecting a jury in 2023 for the sprawling gang and racketeering case against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and others. The trial in that case lasted 13 months, making it the longest in Georgia history.
Morrison said she had a daylong trial Wednesday in a criminal misdemeanor case that started with jury selection around 9:30 a.m., included testimony from three witnesses and ended with a verdict by 6:30 p.m.
“That’s the shortest type of trial you can hope for,” she told the prospective jurors called to court Thursday. “As a state court judge, I have the privilege of being able to tell my jurors they’re here for probably smaller trials.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Glanville and Morrison said jury service is valuable, not just as a way of educating the community about the judicial system, but in advancing the practice of law. Glanville said he’s incorporated things into his role as a judge based on feedback from jurors, which is also incredibly important for trial lawyers.
Jurors often get the chance to speak with judges and lawyers at the end of trial and reveal what they found effective and compelling and what didn’t work so well. It’s a chance for lawyers and judges to better their game for the next case.
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