A jury of your peers

I received a jury summons last month. I was all set to go and do my civic duty, but, at last minute it was decided I was not needed after all.

I got to thinking about this. What if the jury was made up of family members?

Let's just say, you, for instance was the respondant in the case. The defendant was, say, your spouse. If that jury was made up of the defendant's family, they would get off scott free every time.

You would know at the beginning of the trial that you were doomed. This is probably where the phrase, "jury of your peers" came from. It's not jury of your family, or jury of your friends. Peers are just random people with driver's licenses who win the luck of the draw.