But if more judges follow his approach – which he boils down to “WWJW” or “What would jurors want?” – perhaps we’ll all feel fortunate instead of unlucky when we see that envelope stamped “official court notice” summoning us to jury duty. I wish my daughter could have been a juror in his courtroom. But by the end, he said, more than one asked him “How soon can I serve again?” When jurors were first summoned, Bennett told me, they often came in "kicking and screaming" and trying to dodge service.
#Mark judge wasted book epub trial
That never happened, though he said he did see a few drunk lawyers in court over the years.)Īt the end of every trial, he shook each juror’s hand and gave them a questionnaire to evaluate him, the lawyers and the entire trial process. (People would ask if he was afraid they’d sneak in booze, he recalled. He allowed jurors in civil trials to ask questions (“a superb innovation”) and made sure jurors were shown visible respect (always standing when they entered the courtroom).īennett told me he also took pains to consider juror “creature comforts.” For example, he tried out the seats in the jury box and even had cupholders installed for jurors to bring in their own drinks. A “common juror criticism of lawyers is: ‘We got it the first time,’” he noted. He also used the final pre-trial conference to streamline proceedings and eliminate excessive witnesses or exhibits. Judge Millers boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon. Remember, they did not volunteer for this civic duty,” he wrote. In addition, Bennett imposed hard time limits on the length of opening statements and closing arguments, “which help lawyers stay on message while avoiding juror frustration, boredom, and disengagement. He also stressed the importance of starting and ending court precisely on time, calling it disrespectful to keep the jury waiting or to make them stay late. “The jurors will love it and it will save a boatload of time,” he wrote in his juror bill of rights. It starts with tightening courtroom procedures to make trials (which let’s admit, can be deadly dull at times) more efficient and less repetitive.įor example, Bennett had a “just say no to sidebars” policy. Instead, Bennett said judges can take steps to make the experience of being a juror its own reward. That could have “unintended consequences,” he said, motivating some people to “serve for the money, not because they want to be good jurors.” “Judges need to let them know that” and to treat them accordingly.īut he doesn’t agree with Taylor that one answer is to pay jurors a generous stipend. Jurors “are the most important people in the courtroom,” he said.
#Mark judge wasted book epub full
Mark Judge’s full memoir, Wasted: Tales of a Gen-X Drunk, is technically out of print. I caught up with Bennett, who after 25 years on the bench joined Drake University Law School in 2019 as director of the Institute for Justice Reform & Innovation, to talk about what he calls a jury-centered approach to judging. Facebook/Getty Mark Judge (r) is the high school classmate of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
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