Fountain Pen Prep For Jury Duty?

[ENewton]

In San Francisco, jurors are permitted to take notes during civil and criminal trials.

 

The last time I was on a jury, each juror was issued a notebook labeled with his or her name. The notebooks were collected at the end of each day and redistributed on the morning of the following day. One juror--a law school graduate--did not take any notes for the 4 1/2-month duration of the trial, but the rest of us all did.

 

Writing implements were provided, but no one said we had to use them. The paper was fairly absorbent, but I used a fine point fountain pen with no difficulty.

 

Using a fine point pen has the additional benefit that a fill of ink lasts longer than with a wider nib. I have never started the day with a full pen and had the ink run out when using a fine point, despite the fact that I often write many pages per day.

[Arkanabar]

I think in part the no-notes rule is so that things which are objected to and stricken from the record are less likely to be considered in jury deliberations; thus, the official record created by the court reporter is what the jury must depend upon.

[LizEF]

Because these things bug me (seem anachronistic, pointless, and even wrong), I spent a couple hours trying to find reasons behind the ( a ) no-notes rule, ( b ) can't take notes from the courtroom rule, and ( c ) notes destroyed after trial rule. I would have preferred to find reasons from the very people who established the rules, but found no such thing. I found only after-the-fact theories and justifications. What I found was:

( a ) What's above in the thread, and: jurors might be distracted by the note-taking / miss something while scribbling notes, jurors might doodle instead.

* I find none of these compelling. I believe jurors without pen and paper just as capable of being distracted or daydreaming or otherwise missing one thing while thinking about a previous thing.

 

( b ) Privacy and not wanting jurors to share notes.

* If you're relying on instructions to prevent them from speaking to folks, why aren't instructions good enough to keep them from sharing notes.

 

( c ) Privacy. I also found one thing which suggested this rule has been challenged at least once on the basis of 1st amendment rights.

* I find this one flat-out wrong (except in specific cases which justify, for example, a gag order preventing the jury from ever even speaking about the trial after it's over). Trials are meant to be public. It's in everyone's best interest that they are so - the thought of secret trials ought to terrify everyone who loves freedom. Except as mentioned, I cannot think of any good reason why the juror should not be able, if they wish, to keep their notes with them at all times - including with the option of taking them at the end of the day so they can immediately review and organize their notes. I get that they're not evidence, but this process is the best way to solidify in your mind what happened.

 

Meanwhile, back to the OP:

 

Any tips for how best to prep?

 

Everything I found suggests that when you can write, you have to do it on supplied notebooks, therefore, my recommendation would be finer nibs and well-behaved ink (no bleed, feather, spread on crappy paper).

Edited October 28, 2018 by LizEF

[amberleadavis]

 

Thanks! And I totally agree about the "stay awake" bit - just listening to people drone on for hours has to get pretty boring, especially when a lot of them probably don't want to be there. (I'm assuming, of course, that normal court isn't nearly so interesting as TV courtroom dramas make it out to be. )

 

 

 

Okay, so even the Wall Street Journal has tips for keeping jurors awake and it does include note taking.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ladies-and-gentlemen-of-the-jury-please-wake-up-1512750669

 

Meanwhile, I spent about an hour checking out google looking for this crazy book I had with doodles from the jurors of the Simpson murder trial.

http://s3item.bookooinc.netdna-cdn.com/s400_47b1b2e2b1251c4537eadd9500786.jpg

 

The search took me way off base to read a bunch of articles about jurors and memory and even the whole discussion about how forensic evidence is misused in trials (answer it is being admitted even when it has been proven unreliable).

 

So, now that I've thought about it all some more. Liz, I'm going to your original suggestion - a handful of Varsity FPs - and my suggestion - the package with lots of color!

[praxim]

Also, out of pure question from a law student: how much exactly can jurors influence a judge's decision again? And do they participate in all trials, or are exempt from penal trials?

 

It was summarised to me by a lawyerly person that in this country the jury is solely responsible for determining what are facts and what is false, and on that basis offer a guilt finding to the appropriate standard (civil or criminal). The judge may overthrow that if they consider the finding egregious, but otherwise their role is to rule on law (grounded on jury-assessed facts) and to determine sentence or damages. Note that this is (as I understand it) unlike the USA in civil damages claims, in that the jury here has no role in the extent of damages awarded.

 

I am reflecting that summary as faithfully as I recall.

 

eta: for your second part, judge-only trials may be requested (by the defendant only?) with consent from the other prosecutor or plaintiff (and the judge?). There may be other circumstances. Most minor matters are heard by magistrates alone. I am getting to the fringes of my knowledge of procedure there.

Edited October 28, 2018 by praxim

[ISW_Kaputnik]

On the question of whether a juror can take notes, evidently it varies by jurisdiction. Although I've never made it to an actual trial in Connecticut, I found this official juror's guide. I've seen it before from the times I had to show up for a jury pool. On page 17, point 7, it says "You may take notes in the courtroom only if the judge tells you that you may do so." So judge's discretion, evidently. There are probably guidelines for judges as to how to exercise this discretion, but I haven't looked for them.

 

I'm neither eager nor terribly unwilling to serve as a juror; someone has to do it. I would arrive ready to take notes, but if the judge disallows that, then what are you going to do? I do know, from taking notes at lectures and meetings, that it can be a mistake to take too copious notes, as the attempt to write everything down can actually cause you to miss things.

Edited October 28, 2018 by ISW_Kaputnik

[LizEF]

Okay, so even the Wall Street Journal has tips for keeping jurors awake and it does include note taking.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ladies-and-gentlemen-of-the-jury-please-wake-up-1512750669

 

Meanwhile, I spent about an hour checking out google looking for this crazy book I had with doodles from the jurors of the Simpson murder trial.

[photo]

 

The search took me way off base to read a bunch of articles about jurors and memory and even the whole discussion about how forensic evidence is misused in trials (answer it is being admitted even when it has been proven unreliable).

 

So, now that I've thought about it all some more. Liz, I'm going to your original suggestion - a handful of Varsity FPs - and my suggestion - the package with lots of color!

 

that was a fabulous set of doodles. (Not sure I buy that it's legit, but still lots of fun.)

 

And yes, a bunch of colorful FPs that won't break your heart if the judge locks them in the circular cage for contempt of court seems like a safe bet.

[arrScott]

Thanks everybody for your advice and reminiscences! It's been 25 years since my last jury duty, so long that I misremembered the year and spent a few days thinking it had been 24 years. It was in Minnesota, and the thing with court-issued notepads rings a bell. I recall using legal pads, which I only rarely used on my own in my student days. Anyway, I'm certain that I took a lot of notes, but my memory is not clear about when and where. Possibly in the jury box during the trial, possibly in the deliberation room instead. I also made personal notes distilling my notes, which I thereafter used as the basis for a thesis project at university, and having had to leave my in-court notes behind would make sense as a cause for recording the secondary notes.

 

Anyway, seems like I should count on any note-taking being done with court-issued supplies, but I also recall rather a lot of downtime before the trial started and at certain points during the trial, so a good book, a notebook, and my Vanishing Point with a bag of cartridges will be with me in my bag.

 

And to sciumbasci, the simplest way I can think to describe the role of the jury in common-law, as opposed to civil-law, countries would be by analogy to a soccer match. Our system is adversarial, such that the attorneys for the parties (in a criminal trial, the prosecutor versus the defendant) are like the teams competing in a game; the judge acts as the referee to ensure that the competition is conducted fairly and within the rules; and the jury determines the winner by weighing the facts presented by the parties. If the jury unanimously determines that the defendant is guilty of any of the charged crimes, then in most cases the jury's role ends and the judge determines punishment. Exceptions being that in two of the fifty states, a jury need not be unanimous in a criminal trial; and that in cases where capital punishment may be imposed, a jury will also play a role in determining sentence.