“This is what we’re spending our tax dollars on?”
A photograph that Mary provided of herself near the courthouse for the Court Listening Project archive.
Excerpt from an interview with Mary, a juror who served at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, CA in summer 2021.
Interviewer: You were very irritated to be there?
Mary: Yeah. Because initially it was like, oh, this must be something special about this case that made it so it got to court, and you're now, affecting the lives of all these people, all potential jurors. And then, like the 12, the 13 of us with the alternate person who have been sitting there all day. And I was telling my my mom, or my husband, I can't remember, like, so this kid with his DUI, he was barely over the legal limit and no crash, no injury. And like, I was just thinking to myself, like, ugh, there's got to be a better way. But then, you know, it's challenging, right? Because like, there's those strike laws because people are killed by intoxicated drivers. Um, dang it, I've gone off tangent again. What did you ask?
Interviewer: No. I'm just wondering if you had thoughts on whether the state should be spending more or less money on the courts?
Mary: Oh well, I don't know how many cases of DUIs they see every year, but like, less. (Laughs.) Like there's got to be a better way to manage the DUIs and like, I mean, of course, like other things are important that need to be brought or whatnot. But I don't know. I just I just felt like that was a waste of resources. And honestly, if it had come down to just me being like, “No, I think he’s guilty. Or, no I think he’s innocent.” The fact that I know that the case would have come back and been retried and whatnot like that would have forced me to make a decision one way or the other, or like possibly crossover because this is stupid.
Interviewer: Right. Would you say that when you were there deliberating like you were aware of, like, oh, we're in our third day now or whatever being in this case, and we better hurry up because we're wasting everyone's time and money. Or were you still very focused on like justice or?
Mary: No, I was thinking that from the very beginning, from the second that I heard it was a DUI case, I'm like, there better be something really important in this case, and if it's just like a regular DUI case, I'm going to be very upset. Or like disappointed, you know? Because like really, this is what we're spending our tax dollars on? Someone who can't take responsibility for the fact that they blew over the legal limit?
Interviewer: Right.
Mary: That irritated me.
