Volunteer Juries

Regarding “Verdict on Stars’ Jury Exception: Not Guilty!” (Calender, Nov. 1): When will legislatures in the United States wake up to the fact we’ve come several centuries from the time the jury developed in England? Specifically, why is a conscription/draft system still continued when a volunteer pool of potential jurors probably would work much better?

Sure, we could deep the draft law on the books if no one volunteers, but there must be many retirees and others who would welcome some diversion and the chance to feel useful.

Didn’t the United States beat back Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait with volunteers? Don’t many towns still have volunteer fire departments where membership is considered an honor and there are waiting lists? Other than adding prison inmates to the crews, weren’t the recent Southland fires controlled by people who did the work out of choice, not force?

Members of space exploration teams all choose the assignment. Maybe if members of the Reginald Denny jury had volunteered for what everyone knew would be a tough task, there would have been far less bickering among them.

R. E. BROWN

Bakersfield