Why College Students Should be Excused from Jury Duty

Being a student in general comes with many challenges, but being a college student is a challenge in itself. Constantly loaded with assignments, tests, studying and projects all while trying to maintain the “college life,” a social aspect that many young adults missed out on during the pandemic, is nearly impossible to balance. For many college students, this is the first time they are finally away from the home they grew up in and are learning to live on their own. And while living on your own does come with many duties and responsibilities, jury duty is one that college students especially should not have to add to their list.

Jury duty is a civic duty that all registered voters have the possibility to be picked for. Jurors are selected at random to attend case trials and ultimately help in deciding the fate of the trial. While for some this may sound like a fun opportunity and a chance to fulfill one’s civil duty, for others this is an obstacle they must get around. Students should not be pulled away from the things that allow them to make a living in a system that makes it hard to do so already. Therefore, college students who are enrolled in classes should not be required to serve jury duty.

A college education is not cheap. Students are required to pay thousands of dollars every year to attend college regardless of the number of classes they may be enrolled in. Full time or part time, it shouldn’t matter. At the end of the day, any payment for education means that you should be able to get the most out of it. By pulling a student away from the classes they pay for, you are not allowing them to get the most out of their education. While jury duty serves as a legal exemption from school, that doesn’t make the workload any less heavy on the students who are missing out on a day or multiple days of learning. Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina and Texas are the only states that allow students to be excused from or postpone jury duty. Why is it that some states allow this, but others don’t?

Aside from classes, many college students face the burden of working. Without degrees and often working part time jobs around their already demanding school schedule, taking time off those jobs is not an easy task. Some students need to go as far as budgeting every cent they own. Removing a student from a work environment that they depend on for even a day let alone multiple days could set them back financially. And while there is a possibility to earn money during your service, in the state of Wisconsin you are only paid $16 per day. At that rate there might as well be no payment at all. Sixteen dollars per day doesn’t even come close to what some students can make from their full time or part time jobs.

I am currently enrolled in college courses this summer. Even though I am not a full-time student right now, I am still taking classes during the three-month summer break that every college student deserves. But for myself and many others, this break is a time to load up on work hours. Work schedules switch from part time to full time and on top of that some students still choose to take multiple classes on the side. This is why I think it’s important to highlight that all college students enrolled in any class should be exempt. Even in the summer when you are not technically a full-time student, many become full-time workers who choose to add extra classes to loosen their load during the school year.

In the state of Wisconsin, there is no travel reimbursement for jury duty. This creates another problem for students. In many cases of moving to college, students travel far distances and even to other states. While being in another state could be a good enough reason to be exempt, being two or three hours away may still make you qualify. When called for jury duty, you are often called under your residential address or what is stated on your driver’s license. For many college students, myself included, that address remains as your home address even if you live in another location for college. Because of this, being called for jury duty may result in having to traveling back to your hometown. To not reimburse a student for gas money when they are expected to drive hours to serve is again taking time and money away from them.

With the amount of people living in our country over the age of 18, why is it that we can’t excuse college students from serving jury duty? Travel, work, school and money are all very important factors that could affect the life of a hard-working student. While jury duty is a civic duty and responsibility, there should be other alternatives at the least if they are going to require it for college students. Why not have them volunteer to help register people to vote? Or how about volunteering on their own time to advocate for important civil rights duties. Requiring a student to drop their work and school life to attend a trial for an unknown number of days is unreasonable to say the least. If some states can recognize this and allow for student exemptions, then all states should as well. We need to give students a chance to make it in a world that our systematic society already makes so challenging. So why can’t everyone just give us college kids a break, be on our side for once.