My Civic Duty
I had Jury Duty yesterday. For the first time, I have a job that pays me while I am out doing my civic duty. I used to get jury summons all the time and would claim "financial hardship" as an excuse for why I couldn't serve on a jury. This technique has worked for the last 15 years. This time, I figured I would take the day off from work to sit around and fulfill my responsibility to the justice system.
It was a long day. I took the train from N. County to downtown SD. Of course, to get there in time I had to take the 6:27am train. This meant getting up at least 90 minutes before I usually do when I drive to work. But, I didn't have to worry about paying for parking and I got a free ride on the Coaster! Getting there early actually was nice, since I got to sit around and read my book for 40 minutes while the room filled with prospective jurors. Finally, at 8:00am, they started the "orientation" that lasted for 45 minutes. A judge came and addressed us and they explained what would be happening throughout the day. Ok, fine. I had forgotten to bring my summons and when I heard my name called, it felt like I was being called to the principal's office. But it was just to pick up the official juror badge with my name and bar code on it.
After about an hour of waiting, my name was called to go the Department 36 of the Superior Court. It took about 20 minutes to get all the jurors over there and when we were all there, they told us to just wait outside. The criminal must have made a deal with the attorneys, because 2 people walked out, closely followed by the bailiff who told us to go back downstairs and report that we had been "released by the department". That was just before lunch. Another 30 minutes of waiting and we were sent off for a 1 1/2 hour lunch break. "Be back by 1:15pm", they said over the PA system. I walked to Horton Plaza, ate some cheese fries, shopped around looking for accessories for a wedding that is on Saturday, and then walked back to the Hall of Justice.
Once they had herded us back into the jury room, another round of PA annoucements called 3 separate groups to courtrooms. I, thankfully, was not called. Another 90 minutes and we were released for the day! Yippee! Too bad it didn't happen 30 minutes sooner, or 30 minutes later because when I got back to the Santa Fe Depot, I saw that I had just missed the last train north and the next one wasn't for an hour. That's crap. So...another hour of sitting around waiting. What do I care? I was reading and listening to my iPod. Finally got home after 4.
All in all, it was an OK day. Nothing real exciting...and I didn't have to be at work!
It was a long day. I took the train from N. County to downtown SD. Of course, to get there in time I had to take the 6:27am train. This meant getting up at least 90 minutes before I usually do when I drive to work. But, I didn't have to worry about paying for parking and I got a free ride on the Coaster! Getting there early actually was nice, since I got to sit around and read my book for 40 minutes while the room filled with prospective jurors. Finally, at 8:00am, they started the "orientation" that lasted for 45 minutes. A judge came and addressed us and they explained what would be happening throughout the day. Ok, fine. I had forgotten to bring my summons and when I heard my name called, it felt like I was being called to the principal's office. But it was just to pick up the official juror badge with my name and bar code on it.
After about an hour of waiting, my name was called to go the Department 36 of the Superior Court. It took about 20 minutes to get all the jurors over there and when we were all there, they told us to just wait outside. The criminal must have made a deal with the attorneys, because 2 people walked out, closely followed by the bailiff who told us to go back downstairs and report that we had been "released by the department". That was just before lunch. Another 30 minutes of waiting and we were sent off for a 1 1/2 hour lunch break. "Be back by 1:15pm", they said over the PA system. I walked to Horton Plaza, ate some cheese fries, shopped around looking for accessories for a wedding that is on Saturday, and then walked back to the Hall of Justice.
Once they had herded us back into the jury room, another round of PA annoucements called 3 separate groups to courtrooms. I, thankfully, was not called. Another 90 minutes and we were released for the day! Yippee! Too bad it didn't happen 30 minutes sooner, or 30 minutes later because when I got back to the Santa Fe Depot, I saw that I had just missed the last train north and the next one wasn't for an hour. That's crap. So...another hour of sitting around waiting. What do I care? I was reading and listening to my iPod. Finally got home after 4.
All in all, it was an OK day. Nothing real exciting...and I didn't have to be at work!
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