Jury Duty

Yee hee!  I was in a jury pool today, and did not get called to serve, so I'm free for a year!

I believe in trial by jury.  I think it is an important right.  I was prepared to serve on a jury, but honestly, I did not want to spend the last few weeks of summer driving back and forth to a courthouse.   People who go to court are generally not happy to be there; with all the security, criminals, lawyers, police officers, and broken looking people, a courthouse can be a little depressing.

I've been on two juries; one was a criminal case, and the second one was a civil case.  In both cases, we ended up deliberating and rendering a verdict.  It was a good experience, although the civil case was annoying; I learned quite a bit about the right kind of grease to use when doing the maintenance on a Ferrari.  The rich guy was going after a mechanic for making a mistake and messing up his fancy car.  It's my natural inclination to say to the rich guy, "Oh for crying out loud.  Go get a real problem," but as a member of the jury, you have to set that aside and just listen to what happened.  And the Ferrari guy was right.  The guy did screw up his car.

I'm nosey, I guess.  I like to hear the facts of the case and try to figure out what's right.  I like to listen to the attorneys make their arguments, and watch how they use their bodies, their postures and attitudes, and their voices to help shape their position.    The whole process is interesting, and I think it's my responsibility as a citizen to take the process seriously, and to not weasel my way out of service. I hate it when people say, "You know who sits on juries?  People who are not smart enough to figure out how to get out of serving."  That's really not true.  There's lots of people like me who think it's important.  Even so, I did not want to give up August.

So I must have good jury karma.  Today, I did what they asked me to do -- I sat in the jury pool and patiently read my book.  I went on a long walk during the lunch break and found a Salvadorian restaurant, and had pupusas for lunch.  Then I gave the lunch that I packed at home to a homeless guy.   I bought a tablet for writing at an old-school news stand and talked to the guy about his business.  I returned to the jury room after lunch, and was excused for the rest of the year.  Not a bad day.