The Eight-Day Juror Walkout
After eight days on a murder trial, a group of Tacoma jurors refused their meager $1-a-day pay, protesting the economic injustice of the state's compensation laws.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
TACOMA, July 6—Eight jurymen, who sat through eight days of the Miller murder trial, refuse to accept the compensation of only $1 each because they were regularly drawn as jurors for the term. The talesmen have employed Frank Carroll as attorney and propose to give the law a test. They claim it is too unjust. In its effect, these eight bailesmen get only $1 each for their services during the trial, while the other four sitting side by side with them receive $2 each.
“They claim it is too unjust.”
The struggle to make jury duty economically viable persists today, as many low-wage workers still face financial hardship when summoned for service. This 1899 dispute highlights the long-standing tension between the civic duty of the courtroom and the reality of the daily paycheck.
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