Students give opinions

This afternoon I presented a lecture to a group of 30 University of Ryukyus undergraduates entitled "How Americans Cope with Jury Duty: Possible Lessons for Japanese." In the audience were two members of the U.S. diplomatic corps who kindly agreed to participate: a former juror and a former prosecutor. Following my lecture I asked the students to describe their feelings as they face the prospect of becoming saiban-in. One student doubted his ability to deal with the responsibility of judging another person fairly, especially since he was not legally trained. The American former juror made the point that expertise is not required to know right from wrong. Another student was clearly appalled by the prospect of having to judge serious violent offenses. A third student said he would feel overwhelming pressure to just follow what the professional judges told him and the other saiban-in about how to vote. The former prosecutor made the point that in the American system, jurors are autonomous from the judge. While the Japanese system is obviously different in this regard, she urged the students, should they ever be called to serve, to exercise independent judgment -- after all, it's their independent judgment that can help prevent false convictions. To my surprise two students voiced excitement about the new system. "It will be interesting to be in a courtroom and play a new role. I am looking forward to serving!"