Doing my civic duty

[Ken Stallings]

That never used to be the case in the UK but things could have changed of course as it's about 20 years since I was called for jury duty there.

I was called for service at a Crown Court hearing and I refused to swear an oath on a bible as I am an atheist and believe in no god of any flavour. I explained my situation to the Clerk of the Court and she said 'No problem, we get that all the time, here read this card out loud'. The card contained a simple passage that stated that I would act fairly and honestly in related matters and the penalty for not doing so. After I read it out one of my fellow jurors said 'I wish I'd have known about that before I swore on the bible!' and several others piped in with 'Me too!'.

I would want you on a jury. Because you act on principle and honor and seek methods to act in a way that does not require you to forego either!

Ken