Usually, when we consider the dangers of doing jury duty, we think about the threat from organised crime and malevolent psychopaths. Many of us baulk at the task of sitting in judgement upon our fellow human beings and fear some form of reprisal. However, a more immediate danger is the unhealthy nature of all that sitting for hours at a time in stressful circumstances. There is tension in the air when you are carefully concentrating on important evidence and you are being reminded by lawyers and judge to really listen.
The Dangers of Sitting on the Jury: Physical Tension
Someone’s life could be at stake; their liberty may well be on the line. What if you make a mistake? What if you get it wrong? The pressure is building hour after hour, day after day. You cannot share anything with family or loved ones, you are alone with your burden. The burden of justice. How will you cope? Your muscles will tighten and joints stiffen under the sustained duress of the onslaught of important, no vital, information. “The devil is in the detail!” Have you heard that expression before? It means that evil can hide in the fine print, in those complicated legal arguments that the defence or prosecution is making.
Courtrooms need an osteopath, or two, or a team of physical therapists to relieve the stress on the members of the jury. Will justice be served by the suffering of twelve good men and women? As they cramp on their bench, twitch with the tension, and every joint cries out to be massaged for the good of Athena and her scales of justice. Weighing the souls of those on trial can be strenuous work. Heavy lifting on the metaphysical realm and their duty can be onerous on more than one astral plane.
The dangers of sitting on the jury: Physical tension is only the beginning really. What about all that guilt, if you think that you might have got it wrong and convicted an innocent person. Sent a victim to the gas chamber or to prison for the rest of their lives. To death by lethal injection for something they never done. A miscarriage of justice can derail a juror’s life, send them spinning into an oblivion of unforeseen consequences. So, pity the juror and lend them a hand with some healing attention. Massage away the horrible tension, relieve the stress, for Athena’s sake.
