The Juror's Creed

I am a juror.

I am a seeker after truth.

I must listen carefully and with concentration to all the evidence.

I must heed and follow the instructions of the Court.

I must respectfully and attentively follow the arguments of the lawyers, dispassionately seeking to find and follow the silver thread of truth through their conflicting assertions.

I must lay aside all bias and prejudice.

I must be led by my intelligence and not by my emotions.

I must respect the opinions of my fellow jurors, as they must respect mine, and in a spirit of tolerance and understanding must endeavor to bring the deliberations of the whole jury to agreement upon a verdict, but

I must never assent to a verdict which violates the instructions of the court or which finds as a fact that which, under the evidence and in my conscience, I believe to be untrue.

In fine, I must apply the Golden Rule by putting myself impartially in the place of the plaintiff and of the defendant, remembering that although I am a juror today passing upon the rights of others, tomorrow I may be a litigant whose rights other jurors shall pass upon.

My Verdict must do justice, for what is just is true and righteous altogether"; and when my term of jury service is ended, I must leave it with my citizenship unsullied and my conscience clear.

Judge John H. Flanigan,
Carthage, Missouri

The information in this section has been provided courtesy of the Indiana State Bar Association.