The Quandary of Jury Duty
Whenever I receive the Jury Duty summons “pink slip” I think “How am I going to get out of this?” I am all for performing one’s civic duty. And over the years I’ve learned many unique ways to give back to my community.
I’m a video producer here in San Diego. Therefore, I have shot, produced and edited several videos for non profit organizations. This includes the Environmental Health Coalition, Girls Think Tank (who work to eradicate homelessness), the VVSD (Veterans Village of San Diego), Peace Resource Center and others.
The last time I received an official jury notice, rather than stating that I am self-employed (which I am) and time away from my business would be a hardship (which it would), I decided to go ahead and show up for jury duty.
I think we all feel that if jurors were justly compensated for their time and expenses (mileage, parking, lunch) there would be people lined up around the block to perform this civic duty. But I could see when I walked into the Courtroom lobby that they don’t even have enough money to fix their clock. At 8:45 AM it was stuck on “5:15.” Well, at least it’s correct twice a day.
Jury Selection
Jury selection is the most time-consuming and grueling part of the process. That is unless of course, you end up on a never-ending trial. 50 of us marched into a courtroom. Consequently, the attorneys would select 12 for the jury with three alternates. For the next day and a half the two attorneys whittled down the available jury pool to 15. You could see by the line of questioning that anyone who knew or was related to an attorney or police officer would be kicked off the panel by Attorney “A.” And anyone who had been negatively affected by gang violence would be kicked off by Attorney “B.”
To Be Selected or Not To Be Selected
I was ready to divulge information about myself. This included the time gang members had lashed me with a chain out the window of their car as I rode by on my bicycle. Consequently, I had been so incensed about it, I caught up to them and dumped my water bottle on the driver. At first they looked at me in stunned amazement. And then they laughed and drove away. I would have also mentioned that my dad worked as an attorney in the Attorney General’s office in Detroit, under Frank J. Kelley. Mr. Kelley was the longest-serving Attorney General in Michigan’s history. I never had to say anything.However, I did not get called into any of the 15 seats. And so I was a spectator through it all. The relief at not being selected made me giddy. It also made me a bit sad.
The Judge
The best part about the experience was the judge. He was a hoot. He delivered a few hilarious lines. For instance, “I was going to retire a few years ago, but I did a ‘Brett Favre,'” “Some people confuse me with George Clooney” and my favorite, “You don’t have to read all those books (the law tomes in the courtroom library); I’ve got it covered.”
In conclusion, something else the judge said still resonates. And that is, “People who walk away after having performed jury duty feel better for having participated. It’s good citizenship. If you don’t do it, who will? You folks are the conscience of the community.” Surely, he’s right. So as a community, it would be good if we could all figure out how to reward those who do serve on juries. Wouldn’t that be nice? People lining up to be on juries. Just the way they line up to see that boy band from Korea, BTS, in concert.
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