Extract from The Katie Merrick Case

The Jury Act (2030)

An Act to make provision for a fairer and more transparent trial by jury.
[16th March 2030]
Be it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
The Secretary of State for Justice has a duty to provide a fully representative jury for criminal trials. All British citizens will be able to vote “guilty” or “not guilty” via the GovVote website. This will make up one seat on a jury of twelve.
“British citizen” refers to anyone living in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with full citizenship status.
“GovVote website” is the government-run and monitored website used for referendums, general elections…
***
My professional career, and to some extent my life, can be split into two distinct sections; before the Katie Merrick case, and after. They always said something like this would happen after the Jury Act.
I’d gone upstairs to where my son and his friend were watching a video on his phone.
“What’s going on?” I’m always suspicious. I didn’t want Max to have a mobile phone really, but everyone at school seemed to have one. Their parents insisted it was so they would be safe.
“Nothing,” Max said, far too quickly.
Looking back, I wish I’d insisted on seeing what he was watching then. I didn’t, though; teenage boys should have some level of privacy. Laughable really, given that my son’s generation is the one without any privacy at all, apart from what’s inside their heads. And I’m not even sure there’s much inside there, given the amount of time they spend looking at a screen.
“It’s dinner time in five minutes, come and have some food,” I said.
They talked a million miles an hour at the dinner table, as I served up dinner.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I have a no phones rule at the dinner table, so I ignored it. It buzzed again. I hate to admit it, but I was itching to have a look. I remember because I’d just been on a date, and it had gone quite well. I had been hoping it was him. Funny, I can’t even remember his name now.
It buzzed a third time. And a fourth. Then a fifth.
“Yeah!” Max exclaimed in response to something Dylan had just said. “That’s so Miss Merrick!” They fell about laughing.
“What’s this about Miss Merrick?” I asked. I felt my phone buzzing repeatedly now. It was a call. I let it go to voicemail.
“Nothing, mum, she’s just crazy,” Max responded, like it was no big deal.
“Max, that’s not a nice thing to say. She’s a really nice—”
“No, mum, really, she went crazy today.”
I frowned. I looked at my phone. Five Twitter notifications, a text message from the school, and a missed call from my boss. Oh God, I’d clearly missed something.
“Mum! You always tell me no phones at the table! That’s really unfair!”
“Max, give me your phone. Show me that video you were looking at earlier.”
He didn’t move, probably thought I was playing some strange trick. “Now, Max!”
He pulled the phone from his pocket and found the video. He handed it over. I noticed it had already received over ten thousand views. There were over 400 comments. I watched it, mouth open in horror.