John Oliver on why jury duty is a cause for concern

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver exposed the biases in America’s jury duty system

John Oliver knows that nobody likes jury duty. So devoting Last Week Tonight‘s main story to the topic seems uncommonly boring for the HBO late-night show. That is until you hear Oliver dissect the biases and inequalities that make jury duty a cause for concern.

There have been two common themes in season seven of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: the novel coronavirus pandemic and racial justice. The latter was inspired by the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests across the country and around the world.

Exposing systemic racism has become a mission for John Oliver and his team. Whether it is in law enforcement or education, the structures, habits, and practices in place that are unfairly affecting minorities have been dissected and added to the national conversation by Oliver.

That continued on Sunday night as Last Week Tonight took a closer look at juries. What it found about how minorities are often excluded from this process and the conviction gap it creates is something that needs to be addressed.

John Oliver offered some ideas on how to fix what’s broken with juries

In a matter of minutes, John Oliver exposes both the subtle and explicit ways that minorities have been excluded from juries. It is somehow both unbelievable and not all that surprising but all together frustrating.

From computer programs that ignore largely Black counties and relying on driver’s license registries to printing minorities’ names on different colored paper and avoiding Black women, a lot has been done to make juries look a certain way. And as John Oliver pointed out, when they look a certain way, they tend to decide cases a certain way.

As always, Oliver offers solutions and a road to improvement rather than just identify a problem. It’s what makes Last Week Tonight‘s main stories so engaging and something of a model for how to have any conversation on social justice issues.

Oliver suggests four ways to fix the broken jury system: broaden jury lists, make jury lists public, increase juror pay, and reform peremptory challenges. The Last Week Tonight host acknowledges that this list won’t be easy to accomplish. But as the show has repeatedly pointed out, this hard work is necessary to right the wrongs inherent in the criminal justice system.

What did you think of this piece from John Oliver? Share your thoughts in the comment section. Keep checking Last Night On for more from Last Week Tonight and the rest of late-night television.