I am currently sitting on the 9th floor of the Franklin County Municipal Court Building. I've been called to serve for two weeks as a juror. At least I think I have -- I've been here three days and I haven't been on a trial yet. In fact, not one of the 75 of us potential jurors has been on a trial. There have been about 300 cases processed since we've been here. All of these cases have been resolved through plea bargaining or other means. Since a jury at this municipal court level only has eight people, I'm starting to doubt that I will serve on an actual jury.
I have mixed feelings about this. Participating in public/civic/political life, including jury duty, is an important part of a complete human existence. I'm not sure my life would be complete if I never served on a jury. I'm interested to see how I would react. (At this point, I should say that the hero of the excellent movie 12 Angry Men is one of my favorite movie characters.)
And yet...this jury lounge is a great place. I have WiFi and all the hot chocolate I can drink (amazingly, they recognize that some people drink something other than coffee). They have magazines here, computers, and movies. Most important, it is actually a great place to work and I think I may actually finally finish my book. Not any needy students,colleagues, children, or wives making requests, after all.
1 comment:
I have to serve three weeks of jury duty in January. Here, unfortunately, we are not allowed to bring any outside materials like books or laptops into the courthouse building. Enjoy your productive two weeks. I fear my time may be exactly the opposite.
A few years ago I was called to serve on a capitol case. I didn't realize when I was questioned about whether I supported the death penalty that my reply of "no" automatically disqualified me from being on the jury. It's interesting that our courts require one to be a supporter of the death penalty in order to serve on a murder case.
Post a Comment