在陪审团中供职，我有何收获？

曾经有一周，我第一次成为了一名陪审员。在美国，有些法律审判仅由法官判定，有些则是由一个12名公民组成的陪审团判定。这种做法背后的理念是一位被告的讼案应该由他或她的同辈人判定，这些同辈人是从有着相同法律地位的人群中随机抽取的。

我帮助判定的那个案子是一个民事案件。有个人被一辆汽车撞了，他想从撞他的人那里得到金钱赔偿，以支付其医疗费用和补偿他遭受的痛苦。法官和律师询问了我们一些问题，以确保我们不认识涉案的任何一方，以及我们不会对此案抱有任何偏见。双方律师各自陈词，并且传唤了证人到法庭作证，以支持各自的主张。当他们结束之后，对于我们需要考虑哪些问题，法官给了我们相关的指导，然后我们就走进一间会议室讨论细节，并且得出了一个统一的决定。

       我了解到我真的必须聆听这个案子，从而获得全部信息，并放弃我可能持有的、与事实无关的任何臆断或偏见。在我们仔细考虑这个案子的时候，我还必须能够批判性地、合乎逻辑地思考，并且与其他陪审员清晰地交流。在这个案件中，我们非常迅速地得出了一致同意的判决，不过如果是一个更加复杂的案子，我们就要次日再回到法庭，或者视案子所需要的时间而定，直到作出裁决为止，所以我们需要和彼此清晰而有说服力地交谈。

       能够参与其中见识一下陪审团制度是如何运作的，并且成为审判过程的一份子很有趣。我很自豪我履行了自己的公民责任。

- Robin H.，42岁. 大学图书馆管理员. 伊利诺伊州芝加哥市 

What I Learned From Serving on a Jury

I served on a jury for the first time the other week. In the United States, some legal trials are decided solely by a judge, but others are decided by a jury of twelve citizens. The idea behind this is that a defendant’s case should be decided by his or her peers, a random sample of people with the same legal standing. 

The case that I helped to decide was a civil matter. Someone who was hit by a car wanted money from the person who hit him in order to cover his medical bills and to compensate his suffering. The judge and attorneys asked us questions to make sure we didn’t know any of the parties involved, and that we wouldn’t have any biases regarding the case. Each attorney laid out their side of the case and called witnesses to speak to the court to back up their claims. When they were done, the judge gave us instructions regarding the issues we needed to consider, and we went into a conference room so we could discuss the details and come to a unified decision. 

I learned that I really had to listen to the case in order to get all the information, and to let go of any assumptions or biases that I might have since they weren’t relevant to the facts. I also had to be able to think critically and logically, as well as communicate clearly with the other jurors while we deliberated the case. In this instance, we came to a unanimous decision rather quickly, but if it had been a more complicated case, we would have had to come back the next day, or as long as it took, to reach a verdict, so we needed to be able to speak clearly and persuasively with each other. 

It was interesting to get an inside look at how the jury system works and to be a part of the process. I was proud to have served my civic duty. 

- Robin H., 42. University Librarian. Chicago, Illinois. 

要想了解更多此类故事，请访问: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/zh/education-culture-zh/xin-jiao-liu-magazine-zh/every-day-americans-zh/ 

For more stories like this, visit: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/education-culture/xin-jiao-liu-magazine/every-day-americans/