Jury Duty Not So Bad, Poll Finds

Most people are willing to serve on juries and want a jury of their peers to decide their fate if they ever stand trial themselves, according to a new poll conducted by the ABA.

Although many people assume that citizens view jury duty as something to escape, in a survey conducted by the American Bar Association, 75 percent of people polled disagreed.

Robert Grey Jr., a Richmond, Va., attorney who became the ABA’s president this week, says courts still report low response rates for people called to jury duty.

To encourage people to attend jury duty, Grey is in the process of creating a commission to promote jury service and a panel to find ways of making service easier.

The ABA study, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that out of 1,029 adults interviewed in July, 75 percent would prefer their cases be decided by a jury instead of a judge, about 50 percent believe jurors are treated well by courts, and nearly 60 percent look forward to serving jury duty.

For more information visit www.abanet.org.