Thursday, May 22, 2008
Jury done
Free at last, free at last, lord god almighty, free at last.....
In theory I'm still 'on call' through next week, but I'm most likely done at this point. This year's experience was really empty. Last time (March 06) I made it into the courtroom for voir dire twice, but never got seated in an actual jury. This time I sat in the waiting room Monday and Tuesday mornings, never even reached a courtroom. Part of the difference was random; the previous time I was assigned to the first of twenty 'call groups', this time assigned to the last.
Not complaining.
Only one interesting thing happened. As we dutifully tramped through the metal detector in the morning, a retired-military-looking fellow tripped the beeper even after removing all keys and belts. While his private parts were being examined by the attendant with the wand, he said quietly but clearly, "Heil Hitler."
Says it all. He probably spent twenty years defending this country from enemies, only to be treated as an enemy. Later addendum for completeness: I got called again in Dec 2015, and finally made it 'into the box'. It was a surprisingly positive experience. Third time's the charm. Or something. ¶ 7:07 PM
In theory I'm still 'on call' through next week, but I'm most likely done at this point. This year's experience was really empty. Last time (March 06) I made it into the courtroom for voir dire twice, but never got seated in an actual jury. This time I sat in the waiting room Monday and Tuesday mornings, never even reached a courtroom. Part of the difference was random; the previous time I was assigned to the first of twenty 'call groups', this time assigned to the last.
Not complaining.
Only one interesting thing happened. As we dutifully tramped through the metal detector in the morning, a retired-military-looking fellow tripped the beeper even after removing all keys and belts. While his private parts were being examined by the attendant with the wand, he said quietly but clearly, "Heil Hitler."
Says it all. He probably spent twenty years defending this country from enemies, only to be treated as an enemy. Later addendum for completeness: I got called again in Dec 2015, and finally made it 'into the box'. It was a surprisingly positive experience. Third time's the charm. Or something. ¶ 7:07 PM
