Involuntary Servitude

Today I must provide some unfree labor to the government. I knew this was going to happen, so I couldn't go on business travel for my employer. And the government isn't going to fairly compensate me for my time.

Technically, US Case Law (Butler vs. Perry, 1916) says that the 13th Amendment prohibition against involuntary servitude does not prohibit "enforcement of those duties which individuals owe to the state, such as services in the army, militia, on the jury, etc."

An individualist analysis of jury duty must balance two competing goods. On the one hand, jury duty is compulsory. I can't just opt out of the activity; the government ultimately makes me to do so through its monopoly on the first use of force. On the other hand, jury duty is an important check on the power of full-time government actors: a criminal or civil defendant's loss of life, freedom and/or property must be endorsed by ordinary citizens in her specific case, not just through rules and laws promulgated by the State.

Although it's a close call, I think it's reasonable to require otherwise uninterested ordinary citizens to serve on jury duty. The benefits to the individual (protection against government over-reach) outweigh the costs (time and inconvenience). That's why I will uncomplainingly report to the Benton County Justice Center this afternoon at 1:00 PM for jury duty.

6:00 PM update: The defendant failed to appear, so the judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest and dismissed the jury pool. I still have to check in twice more, but the jury room supervisor opined that it's unlikely our group will be called back again.