Close to home: there is nothing “corrupt” about the jury system

I have absolute confidence in the jury system. Some might be surprised to hear this from a career prosecutor. But for 35 years I have practiced this “norm” of democracy, and my belief in it has never wavered. I also believe in the judicial system and that citizens have the right to an impartial judge. I believe a prosecutor is bound by the Constitution. I had the power to file a complaint against a citizen, but only if I believed I had the evidence necessary to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

And today, it’s not so much politics that worries me, but rather former President Donald Trump’s public statements about his verdict following his public trial. A verdict that was rendered after a jury was randomly selected from the community, with the participation of Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The jury deliberated after both sides presented evidence and applied the law as the judge instructed. This is how trials take place every day in this country. The jury found Trump guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The verdict was unanimous, as required by law. And yet, Trump attacked the jurors, his fellow citizens, for doing their duty. In fact, it was an attack on every juror ever selected to hear a case.

Instead of presenting any evidence of misconduct at his trial, he simply claims that everyone was “corrupt,” including the judge, and that “Biden and the Democrats influenced the jury.” This statement is ridiculous and at the same time dangerous. Where is the evidence to support his claims? As a prosecutor, I want proof. What I’m hearing from Trump is that every potential juror in this country could be controlled by Joe Biden or a so-called “deep state.” What I also hear is that every judge and juror who could decide a case against Trump or his friends, in a legal proceeding, is corrupt. As a citizen and career prosecutor, I am unhappy with this malicious attack on juries. We need to encourage people to become jurors. They are the cornerstone of our democracy.

Trump has encouraged his allies, including members of the House and Senate, to attack the jury system. These are the leaders of our country? Instead of supporting democratic norms, they imitate Trump and slander the judge, jury and prosecutor. They did not sit in the courtroom for the entire trial. As a prosecutor whose job it was to evaluate the evidence, I expect evidence of jury misconduct. I await proof of this vast conspiracy that we are being asked to believe.

We must remember that after the 2020 presidential election, which Trump called fraudulent, our democratic right to vote was under attack. Trump has alleged vast conspiracies to “steal” the election. Yet 50 courts across the United States have rejected his claims, most on the grounds that he or his supporters presented absolutely no evidence of voter fraud. Many of those involved in this false accusation were convicted and the participating attorneys were disbarred.

I’m not only upset by the attack on Trump’s verdict, but also by something that happened to me at my gym. After reading the verdict, and on the way out, I asked the young attendant if she knew about the case. She does not have. She was a high school senior and could only say that “you can win in court with a lot of money.”

She didn’t know what a jury trial was or what a prosecutor did. She told me she never received any education in school about the legal system. She could become a potential juror in the near future. We must educate young people about our criminal justice system to inoculate them against false violations of our rights.

As a prosecutor, I believed, without exception, that juries represented one of the limited opportunities for citizens to participate in our criminal justice system. We must encourage this sense of duty that most citizens feel.

Finally, I would like to recommend the book “How Democracies Die” by Daniel Ziblatt. He grew up in West County and is now a professor at Harvard. The book has won numerous honors and he writes about how authoritarian leaders can take control of a democracy. Unfortunately, he looks at what is happening in our own country, including attacks on our democratic institutions, and sees the same thing happening here. The telltale signs are attacks on the press, the justice system and the Constitution. We see this happening daily. We must protect our democracy with all our might.

Greg Jacobs retired as a Sonoma County deputy district attorney in 2008. He lives in Sebastopol.

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