Here's what happened.
Last week, I had yet to receive a reminder notice in the mail (as had been promised). I emailed the jury commission and then miraculously, my notice appeared on Friday. It included reminders about the dress code, prohibited items, and where jurors can park at a discount.
I arrived punctually on Tuesday morning to find the jury assembly room once again teeming with my fellow citizens. The jury commissioner went over a lot of the same information from back in December. Then she called roll. Most people were present. Then we sat around and waited.
A judge showed up to give us a rah-rah pep talk about the importance of serving jury duty. He rambled on and on. I figured I should be respectful and pay attention b/c if he saw me reading a book, he'd probably find some way to get me assigned to a sequestered jury case. But then he started in about Memorial Day and how anyone who tries to get out of jury duty is disrespecting those who lost their lives in service to our country. Oh my, that was a bit over the top, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes. Look, Mr. Judge, our armed forces defend our freedom. When you compel/manipulate/force people to do things, that isn't really freedom now, is it? Of course, I hope most people will fulfill their civic duty to serve on a jury, and we have laws in place about that sort of thing, but if taking a week off work to be on a jury presents a legitimate financial hardship, I don't think we should be guilt-tripping people about it.
The judge finally let us get back to doing nothing. Well actually, first we had to listen to the commissioner answer the same questions over and over because, seriously, some people can't pay attention. She also told us that the thermostat in the room was set at a temperature where most people should be comfortable, but if someone was unbearably hot/cold to let her know, and it would go up for a vote with a maximum of one thermostat-adjustment vote per day. Ha! I am betting that policy came up because of some unruly past jurors...
For some reason, they play music in the waiting room. Maybe it was supposed to pacify us. Some of my neighboring jurors felt compelled to sing along. Others were playing games or watching videos on their phones with the sound on. Grrr - audio pollution! I tried to zone them out while reading my book.
Once in awhile, the commissioner would come in and call a group of people to go serve on a jury pool. On about the fifth round, my name was called. I was excited! I had been chosen! I've always wanted to be on a jury since watching "12 Angry Men" in school. Someone has to be the voice of rationality in the room!
The person reading our names off told us to wait in the hallway, but (inefficiently) he did not tell us to stay in the same order that we'd been called. A deputy came out and asked if anyone needed to use the bathroom or move their car. After lots more waiting, she lined us up in our original order and assigned us a juror number. I was #7. There were about 35 in our group. We then walked in our line over to a neighboring courthouse. She also kept offering us bathroom breaks. I felt like I was on a preschool field trip.
At the courthouse, we had to go through a security screening where the guard was befuddled by a juror with a pacemaker who did not want to go through the metal detector or be swiped with a wand. I thought I was going to have to intervene to prevent catastrophe, but they worked it out amongst themselves. Then we slowly made our way up to our assigned courtroom.
In the interim, one of the jurors disappeared. She allegedly had to go move her car because she was parked at a meter, despite multiple announcements not to do that and several earlier opportunities to move her car. We waited and waited in the hallway. IDK if we were only waiting for her, or also for some court proceedings. It was super boring, and it was already 11:30am so I was getting hungry because I usually eat lunch pretty early.
Fiiiiinally, we went into the courtroom - all 35 of us (minus the missing juror). Since I was #7, I got to sit in the jury box. I felt so legit! The judge told us about how important the jury system is, good for you for being here, blah blah blah. Then we had to take roll again. The judge told us a little about the case. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about it or not, so I'll just say it was a civil case/lawsuit. By then it was almost 12:30pm and we got a lunch break. She told us that after lunch, they'd start in on jury selection.
I found a nearby Cuban restaurant that was super delicious. I could hardly pick what to order because everything sounded so good! I decided that if the trial went on for a few days, maybe I'd come back again to try some of the other items. It felt weird to be out and about in the city, by myself, like a normal working person. And I was wearing work clothes instead of spit-up stained yoga pants. Strange!
After lunch, we all got in our numerical line again (including the missing juror, who had reappeared) and filed into the courtroom. I noticed that the plaintiff was no longer present. The lawyers asked to approach the bench. They had a hushed conversation with the judge. Then the judge said some more things to us about how wonderful jury trials are and if we ever have to go to trial, we better hope it's in the USA. She then swore us in as jurors only to tell us that the matter had been resolved and the case was being dismissed. Our jury service was complete; we were free to go. Well, that was anticlimactic!
In Shelby Co., you only have to serve once every 10 years. I doubt I'll still be living here in another decade, so I guess this was my one day of jury duty. It turned out to be more interesting than I expected but not as dramatic as a legal thriller TV show or movie.
I know last time I posted about jury duty, I was ranting about how little is provided for jurors. I mean, you have to pay for your own transportation/parking, lunch, and child care. You get paid $11 per day. But then I was thinking about it some more and realized that I don't necessarily want to pay higher taxes so that all jurors can have free parking and free child care. It cost me less than $20 for parking two days (December and May) + one lunch. DF had the day off and stayed home with the boys, so no cost for child care. That is really not so bad. If the county offered reimbursements, I'm sure people would take advantage of that system.
Good luck to anyone else serving jury duty soon. Your country appreciates it, I hear :)
