A lawyer sparked discussion on TikTok after posting a video asking people to stop skipping jury duty.
TikToker and attorney Reb (@rebmasel) has received 4 million views and over 13,000 comments on her viral video.
@rebmasel 🙃
♬ original sound – reb for the rebrand
Reb starts her clip with an address to her audience.
“If you are called for jury duty, and you do not have a legitimate reason for getting out of it, and you also happen to be a sane, rational person capable of making objective decisions, do you mind not trying to get out of it?” she asks.
She adds that her video is not targeted at “true crime psychos” who are “fiending” to get onto a high-profile case. “I’m talking about the fact that most jury trials that go on aren’t those murder cases,” she says.
Reb emphasizes that people tend to forget about civil trials. “An employee suing their employer for money that they are owed because they were injured on the job due to the employer’s negligence,” she says as an example.
She says she understands that there are genuine reasons to get out of jury duty but adds that when all the people “smart” enough to avoid it do, the remaining jury pool is “a crew of characters.”
“I can tell you statistically that juries around the nation are very underrepresented for minorities, young people, and for people of low income,” she says.
Then she asks, “Do you wanna know who dominates juries?”
“White people, people who are older—talk boomers—and people who are of a higher income,” she says.
She adds that she’s not telling viewers they will “benefit” from jury duty and that she understands some people don’t have the time or economic means to serve.
But, for those who can, Reb says, “jury trials, most of them, are not the long, monthslong jury trials that y’all are used to seeing.” Rather, they are typically only a few days long, “a week or two at max,” she says.
“You being on it can make a difference,” she adds. “I’m not telling you that this is going to fix [the justice system], but I am telling you that there are literally people who are not allowed to serve on juries.”
Reb explains that many of these people are those with felony convictions, as most states prohibit people with felonies from serving on a jury. She says a statistic from 2010 states that “19 million people had felony convictions in the United States.”
“Do you wanna know what percent of those felony convictions were Black people?” she questions. “36 percent, despite Black people making up only 13 percent of the entire U.S. population.”
She continues to ask, “Imagine how many felony convictions, past ones, are marijuana convictions, for example?” These convictions are now “plastered on billboards,” she says.
Reb adds, “It would be nice if some of you rational, capable people could maybe try to stop the whole ‘ha-ha, funny, laugh, how do we get out of jury duty?’ bullsh*t.”
“Thank you,” she says.
In the comments section, many viewers reject Reb’s plea, arguing that they simply can’t afford to attend jury duty.
“This is a wild thing to ask when people aren’t being paid reasonably for their time…” one viewer writes.
“At $15 a day, participating in jury duty is not even a choice for people of low income,” a second says.
“Tell me you don’t have to worry about your finances on a month to month basis without telling me lol,” another adds.
After one viewer says he agrees with Reb’s reasoning but thinks employers should be required to pay their staff who are on jury duty their full wage, Reb responds, “Agreed, and/or the gov’t should pay much higher wages for juror services.”
Another viewer emphasizes that “these trials can change people’s lives, people don’t realize that.” Reb responds, “Only a few thousand criminal cases and 50,000 civil cases go to trial every year. Only 2% of criminal defendants ever go to trial.”
“It’s so important,” she says.
The Daily Dot contacted Reb via TikTok direct message for more information.
