Duty
One of the greatest joys of being a citizen of this wonderful country is being called for Jury Duty.
Sarcasm – off.
Yes, it’s everyone’s civic duty and all, and thankfully now that it’s done, I won’t be called again for at least 2 years. But there’s 8 hours of my life I’m never getting back.
First off, it amazed me just how many people showed up late for this. In the group of approximately 400 people, at least 60 of them came in 15 minutes or more late. Which of course meant we didn’t start on time. Yay for you people. Thanks for holding it up for the rest of us.
The room was packed when I arrived, so I took the first seat I could find. The chairs were uncomfortably close together and I was feeling just a little claustrophobic. To my right, a very large and gross man who gurgled and snorted like Jaba the Hut, and whose personal space invaded mine a little too much. To my left, a bald white guy with a Harley Davidson t-shirt who was reading a copy of “The Occult Roots of Nazism”. Well. Won’t this be a splendid day. (And yes, both of their names were called.)
The clerk came in and greeted us, and we watched a video about jury trials. The video included clips from an array of great trial movies, such as “My Cousin Vinnie” and “Liar Liar”. Who knew the Collin County justice system had a sense of humor?
After the video, a judge came in and repeated all of the information that the clerk had already told us. Then we got a Power Point presentation with all of the same information again. Then it was time for everyone with disqualifications and exemptions to speak to the judge and be excused. College students, stay-at-home moms, anyone over the age of 70, etc. I was going to try and go with number 4 on the list – “I am not of sound mind and good moral character” - but I wasn’t sure how to prove that to the judge. About 20 or so people were excused for various reasons.
More waiting. It’s getting close to lunch time. The clerk came in and called 40 names and those people were sent to a court room. Another period of waiting. Another 40 names called. I was getting excited, thinking that maybe I was going to luck out and get to leave early. But no. My name was in the last group of 40, and we were instructed to come back at 1:30 PM. Grr. Everyone else got to leave. Darn lucky people.
My group gathered at the specified time and sat in the hallway of the court room for a couple of hours. I chatted with a lady who worked as a legal assistant. She was surprised she had been called. Finally at almost 4 PM, we were told that the case had been settled and our services would not be needed.
A day in the life of the trial-by-jury system. My civic duty is done for the next 24 months.
Sarcasm – off.
Yes, it’s everyone’s civic duty and all, and thankfully now that it’s done, I won’t be called again for at least 2 years. But there’s 8 hours of my life I’m never getting back.
First off, it amazed me just how many people showed up late for this. In the group of approximately 400 people, at least 60 of them came in 15 minutes or more late. Which of course meant we didn’t start on time. Yay for you people. Thanks for holding it up for the rest of us.
The room was packed when I arrived, so I took the first seat I could find. The chairs were uncomfortably close together and I was feeling just a little claustrophobic. To my right, a very large and gross man who gurgled and snorted like Jaba the Hut, and whose personal space invaded mine a little too much. To my left, a bald white guy with a Harley Davidson t-shirt who was reading a copy of “The Occult Roots of Nazism”. Well. Won’t this be a splendid day. (And yes, both of their names were called.)
The clerk came in and greeted us, and we watched a video about jury trials. The video included clips from an array of great trial movies, such as “My Cousin Vinnie” and “Liar Liar”. Who knew the Collin County justice system had a sense of humor?
After the video, a judge came in and repeated all of the information that the clerk had already told us. Then we got a Power Point presentation with all of the same information again. Then it was time for everyone with disqualifications and exemptions to speak to the judge and be excused. College students, stay-at-home moms, anyone over the age of 70, etc. I was going to try and go with number 4 on the list – “I am not of sound mind and good moral character” - but I wasn’t sure how to prove that to the judge. About 20 or so people were excused for various reasons.
More waiting. It’s getting close to lunch time. The clerk came in and called 40 names and those people were sent to a court room. Another period of waiting. Another 40 names called. I was getting excited, thinking that maybe I was going to luck out and get to leave early. But no. My name was in the last group of 40, and we were instructed to come back at 1:30 PM. Grr. Everyone else got to leave. Darn lucky people.
My group gathered at the specified time and sat in the hallway of the court room for a couple of hours. I chatted with a lady who worked as a legal assistant. She was surprised she had been called. Finally at almost 4 PM, we were told that the case had been settled and our services would not be needed.
A day in the life of the trial-by-jury system. My civic duty is done for the next 24 months.
posted by Jenn at
10:14 AM
3 Comments:
...a bald white guy with a Harley Davidson t-shirt who was reading a copy of “The Occult Roots of Nazism”. Heh. That sounds like a perfect way to get excused.
That's what I was thinking. :)
I'm a college student.
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