Mr. Benjamin Kohler was sent to jail
for two days for using his cellphone during jury duty. Now, jury duty is
something that can be long, boring, and unwanted. Many people who receive a
summons for jury duty try to avoid it like the plague; a necessary evil you may
call it. Although I don’t believe that using a cellphone during jury duty
should have enough reason to send someone to jail. No one was put in danger. It
was an action that although ill conceived did not affect anyone. Kohler could
have received an emergency text from a friend or family member, which is maybe
why he pulled his phone out. No one knows anything about Kohler’s personal
life; he could have been going through something or needed to see his phone
about a serious and urgent matter. Lets not forget that Kohler was forced to be
in that courtroom. The judge didn’t question Kohler about why he pulled his
phone out. I’m sure any juror member would know how important it is to hear
everything about a case.
Sending someone to jail for using a
cellphone in a courtroom should not be punishable by law. I believe that the
judge who sent Kohler to jail was taking advantage of all of the power that he
had. No one should be able to do whatever he or she want regardless of which
position in power they are in. The judge should not be allowed to send someone
to jail on a whim. The judge doesn’t know anything about Kohler’s personal
life. Kohler most likely has a job he has to go to or a family to provide for.
Maybe he had an exam to take or a paper to submit. Those two days in jail could
have caused Kohler a lot more trouble than it was worth. “Teaching someone a
lesson” should not be something that the judge has power to do; if Kohler needs
to be taught a lesson than his mother, not a stranger who thinks he can treat
anyone badly, should reprimand him. I understand why the judge was upset over
Kohler’s actions because jury duty is something that should be taken seriously;
jurors are responsible for making decisions about a defendant’s future. Jurors
should not let themselves become distracted because they are an important part
of the case. The court is counting on jurors to be unbiased, responsible, and
focused on the case they were summoned for. A courtroom requires that all of
those who are present be respectable. I wouldn’t want to be a defendant with a
juror who is paying attention to their cellphone. It can cause the case to be
misconstrued.
As important as jury duty is for the
defendant and the prosecutor, no one should have to go to jail because they
were on their cellphone. Hopefully this jail time, doesn’t end up on Mr.
Kohler’s record; a simple mistake like that could ruin his entire life. Like
Kohler, we are only human and simple mistakes like that shouldn’t affect the
rest of our lives. Instead of acting quickly and hastily, the judge should have
sat down with someone and talked about the decision he was making over Kohler’s
actions. Its important to think about the consequences our actions has on the
rest of our lives. Judges are not perfect; they are just as human and flawed as
the rest of the world. Jailing a juror for using his cellphone in a courtroom
is not an action punishable by law and Mr. Kohler should have never been sent
to jail.
