Jury Duty

A friend blogs on her recent experience when called for jury duty. I enjoy this post for the non-lawyer perspective.

On Monday night, I had to call to see if I had to go serve on a jury. Yes, I got a jury summons! My number was picked (lucky #5) and I had to report for 9 AM.

So on Tuesday, I got up early. You have to remember that I'm currently unemployed so getting up early is now considered 9:30 so anything before 8 AM is just ludicrous in my book. But I go over to the courthouse, go through the metal detector, and sit and wait. We have to fill out some questionairre and make sure to give back the pen we borrowed...can't have the state waste money on new pens. Then, we wait some more. Then, the Commissioner of Jurors gives us a little talk, then the judge gives us a little talk, then the first 14 people are called and I'm not one of them! So I get to listen to all the questions and all the stuff the assistant DA is trying to say and not saying very well...for another hour. Then, they take a break for 10 minutes. Now, it's 11:30. The judge comes back and they pick out 7 jurors and swear them in. Then, the judge says "We'll break for lunch. Be back at 1Pm." God damn it!

At 1 PM, we are sitting in the courtroom after having gone back through the metal detector which seems to beep at everyone. At 1:20, the judge and lawyers are back and 14 more names are called. Mine is among them. So here's my strategy...sit and look bored and say nothing. And what do you know, it works! After listening to another hour of the same questions, I am finally excused.

What did I learn from this brush with the legal system? That for the most part, it's damn boring. But on the plus side, I don't have to worry about it for 6 more years.