Not a rant. This falls under the "Stuff" part of the forum title.
I received a summons for jury duty, and yesterday morning I arrived a little early by bus. The courthouse was not open, so I stood in the -2 degree (Fahrenheit) weather for 20 minutes until the doors were opened. The sheriff's deputies at the security checkpoint confiscated my cell phone, since I apparently can't take it into the courthouse, and I didn't have a car in which to leave it, and I didn't feel like burying it in the snow until I got back.
About 80 people, potential jury members all, gathered in a room, and waited. Luckily I had a book to read (Mistborn 1). About 15 minutes after the "do not be late" time, a woman came in and called roll. After roll was called, we watched a video about serving on a jury. I think it was supposed to make us feel good about being there, even when one person on the video told us that, after going through the entire selection process, just before the trial was to begin, they were told to go home. His mere presence was enough to convince the accused to change his plea to guilty, or so we are told.
After the video, we waited some more. While waiting, I decided it would be a good idea to use the restroom, since I would unlikely be excused during the actual selection process, and I had drunk quite a bit of water that morning. I wasn't in the restroom for long, but when I returned, the room was empty. Unsure of what to do, I waited for a while, since waiting seemed to be a common theme that day.
Waiting did not seem to produce the desired effect. I considered just leaving, since I had already been declared present at the roll call, so I figured I'd be okay. After more consideration, however, I decided that would be a bad idea. I was there, after all, to perform my civic duty. So I proceeded back down to the security checkpoint and informed them that I was a lost juror. One of the deputies escorted me to the courtroom where the other potential jurors were receiving instructions from the judge.
We were informed that 19 of those present would be called at random, and those people would sit at the jury box for further questioning, and only nine would serve on the jury. Everyone else had to remain in the courtroom in case anyone at the jury box was released. I was the twelfth person called. Actually, my name was not the twelfth selected, but there were many who were not there, and are now held in contempt of court. I'm glad I didn't leave earlier.
We were asked a few basic qualifying questions, such as whether we were US citizens and residents of this particular county, whether we could speak, read, and understand English, etc. The judge also asked each of us to stand and state our name, city of residence, marital status, number of children, profession, and level of education completed. We were then informed of the charges. The defendant allegedly got drunk (one count of public intoxication), destroyed some property (I don't remember the specific charge), and beat up his father (one count of felony assault).
Over the course of the selection process, several jurors were released for various reasons, one because she was a close acquaintance of the defendant, others due to unknown reasons relating to the charges (they spoke with the judge privately), and one because she was once married to an alcoholic who beat her regularly, and she wasn't sure she would be able to be fair to someone who would get drunk and hit someone else.
Two hours of questioning later, we sat quietly while the attorneys passed back and forth a paper with all our names on them, eliminating the names one by one. This part took about 20 minutes. I read my book. The judge then read the names of those nine who would be staying (I was not on the list), and told the rest of us that we could leave. One of the selected requested to speak with the judge one last time before they proceeded, presumably to make a final attempt to not be on the jury. The judge granted the request, asking everyone to remain seated until he came back. I read my book. Ten minutes later, the judge came back and, apparently rejecting the man's attempt, told everyone not selected to leave.
And that was my experience with jury duty. I had received a summons a few months back, but it was canceled before the selection process began. I missed a half day of work, but I do get paid (a whole $18.50). Quite an interesting process. Now, I'm not opposed to serving on a jury. I actually think it would be a good experience.
