Login | May 17, 2025
New Summit Cty. court program shines spotlight on jury service
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 16, 2025
From juror eligibility and the details of service to understanding the functioning of the court system—those are a few of the topics covered in a new Summit County court program available across the state called Discovering Justice.
Unveiled in February by the judges in the General Division of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas in partnership with Art x Love and America 250 - Ohio, it seeks to educate Ohioans about the justice system and the important role that jurors play in helping to safeguard American freedoms.
“The program is part of a larger effort to engage Americans in participating in our democracy as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026,” said Summit County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Alison McCarty.
As the country prepares to mark this historic event, the nonpartisan initiative known as America250 is working to engage every American in commemorating and celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Spearheaded by the Congressionally-appointed U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission and its nonprofit supporting organization America250.org Inc.-- together known as America250––the multi-year effort kicked off on July 4, 2023, with a national campaign calling on all Americans to share their stories, hopes and dreams for the future of the country.
As part of the initiative, each state was encouraged to form a commission to pay tribute to its contributions to the country’s history.
Ohio’s commission is America 250 – Ohio, which is charged with planning, developing and coordinating the commemoration across the state.
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy is serving on the America 250 – Ohio Commission.
In late 2023, the chief justice invited courts across the state to submit grant proposals for projects highlighting the key role of the judiciary in their communities.
The following year, the Summit County Common Pleas Court sent in a proposal that focused on the importance of jury service, a theme that Judge McCarty came up with.
“As a judge, I find that so many people are hesitant to do jury service when they receive a summons, and often their first impulse is to try to get out of it,” said Judge McCarty. “I wanted to encourage everyone to embrace their civic responsibility by coming up with a program that raises awareness about the importance of service.
“My experience tells me that for almost everyone who serves they feel a sense of satisfaction that they did so, no matter how difficult or lengthy the trial and that is something I wanted to communicate.”
Judge McCarty worked closely with Art x Love Co-founder and Chief Catalyst Mac Love on writing and applying for the grant.
Founded in 2015 by Love and his wife Allyse, the for-profit agency specializes in creating public art and design projects.
Last July the America 250 – Ohio Commission approved a $17,500 grant for the program.
It features a series of free 15- to 30-minute educational workshops that are taking place at schools, community organizations and religious institutions around the state.
The Loves are leading the workshops, in conjunction with Summit County Court personnel.
Key to the program is an activity booklet that was created by Mac Love together with the judges and employees at the court.
The booklet depicts the story of the juror’s oath, provides an overview of the justice system and includes a worksheet that allows people to write, draw or share their vision of justice.
“At the beginning of the workshop we pass out the booklets along with coloring pencils,” said Love. “Then we do a short presentation and invite everyone who wants to participate to share their perspective or vision of justice on the last page of the booklet.”
The pages are collected at the end of the workshop and will be used by Love to help craft a modular work of art that will be displayed in the jury assembly room at the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.
The deadline for the submissions is May 31. Residents do not have to attend a workshop to participate. They can complete their submission online by visiting artxlove.com/blog/discovering-justice.
Love expects to begin creating the artwork sometime in June, with the goal of having it ready for display by mid- to late-July.
Once it’s complete, courts around the state will be able to request reproductions of the work for their jury rooms.
On March 18, Allyse Love and Judge McCarty held a workshop at the Miller South School for the Visual & Performing Arts in Akron.
Judge McCarty said students inquired about the average length of trials, the reasons a juror can be excused from service and asked about the most difficult case she had handled, among other things.
“They were very receptive and interested in learning more about jury service,” said Judge McCarty.
One of the drawings received depicted a close-up image of an eye and a line that read, “Try to see the world through my eyes,” said Mac Love.
“If I were to get more submissions with a similar theme I would try to incorporate that into the final work,” he said
Summit County Common Pleas Court Chief Magistrate Kandi O’Connor and Judge Kathryn Michael have also done presentations.
On Feb. 7, at the start of the high school mock trial competition awards ceremony at Akron Municipal Court Judge Michael briefly addressed the students, their families and the coaches about the importance of jury service.
Afterward, some of them created and turned in artwork.
“The students were very attentive and interested in the topic,” said Judge Michael. “The submissions included a number of different themes around patriotism.
“I think this program is very important because our court system relies on jurors, which is not the case in most countries,” said Judge Michael.
“Jury trials are the cornerstone of the American Justice system,” said Judge Michael. “Without jurors there can be no jury trials.”
O’Connor and Allyse Love addressed a group of students enrolled in the Junior Leadership Akron program on March 11 at the office of Leadership Akron, located in the United Way building in downtown Akron.
“I created a quiz format in which high school students were asked to answer questions related to jury service, including who can serve and what happens during service.
“Everyone seemed very interested, especially when they learned that once they turn 18 they can be called for service even if they are enrolled in college,” said O’Connor.
The workshops will run through the end of May.
“It’s important to us that everyone in Ohio has a chance to participate and share their visions of justice,” said Mac Love. “We are happy to help lead and host workshops both in person or virtually across the state.”
For more information on the program or to request a booklet, send an email to contact@artxlove.com or call 330-238-8588.
Anyone interested in scheduling or hosting a workshop can email dwilliams@summitcpcourt.com or call 330-643-7480.