Jury Pool - come on in! The water's fine!

It wouldn't have been my first pick for things to do with my summer break, but duty called. America may be flawed (what country isn't??) but I would not want to live anywhere else, so I don't mind being summoned to serve my time in the courts of the US. I was apprehensive about the way it would go. It seemed big and scary (and darn it, I don't want to get up early in the summer!). Now that I am on day two, I am finding that as long as ya have enough stuff to do, it's not a bad gig. At least so far...And BONUS - my friend and sister in Christ, Theresa also has jury duty!!

I figured I would chronicle my time for memory's sake and in case any of the thousands of readers of my blog (ha!) ever wondered what it was like. Sorry, I can't give any details of cases that I may hear, but I can share about my experiences in the pool!

Day 1 - Monday

8:00am - I hate driving and parking downtown! But I was able to find a lot next door for $7. I decided against my favorite 7th street $1 lot due to rain in the forecast.

The line to get through the metal detector was a mile long. My shoulders bitched at me for packing so much stuff in the laptop bag:

Me + gobs of down time= bring enough stuff to appease my AD-OLAS, that is, "Attention Def -Oh, Look A Squirrel!"

Check in was easy. I had to bring along the card they mailed to me which will serve as my check-in everyday. Found a seat along with the other lost sheep.

8:45am- Theresa sent me a text...She was called to Grand Jury which means she will help decide if cases will go to trial or not. I am a Petit juror, I will possibly serve as an actual juror on a case. She was in another section of the office. I went over to say hello and we commiserated that we wouldn't be able to hang out.

9:15 - Orientation. 15 minute video explaining how the system works and what we might expect to experience. Not bad...Well produced by Xavier U and hosted by a local news anchor woman. Jury Director guy talked to us about daily specifics. Here's what a day generally looks like for Petit Jurors:

-Sign in
-Sit around and wait
-Sometime between 10 and 1pm they might call groups of jurors to be selected for a case. It all depends on what cases are on the dockets for the day and which ones do not reach a settlement (thus requiring the defendent's fate to be determined by some of us from the pool).
-Official lunch is not called except for folks who are called for a case that the presiding judge has dismissed for lunch.
-They try to have folks sorted into active juror or 'you're done for today' by 1pm.
-If sent home you are to call or check the website after 4pm for the next days instructions.
-Available amenities:

*Free coffee
*vending machines,
*newspapers
*magazines
*two TVs
*work stations
*chairs galore
*a few tables
*a few desk-tops
*a fax machine
*a 'quiet room' across the hall
*work out option: 7 laps around any of the floors in the courthouse = 1 mile!

10:30am - Made myself comfortable at one of the work stations (Yay, they have Wi-Fi here!). In the hallway when I stepped out to find the facilities, I see no other than Earl Martin - my supervisor from the University Hospital mailroom! So good to see him! This is his second week and he had not been called for anything yet.

11:30am - Holy Crap, no official lunch? All my money was spent on parking...Fading fast...Had to find an ATM (curse those added fees!). Vitamin Water and Veggie Chips. Living like a Queen!

12:00 - Theresa visited me. She was on lunch from her busy Grand Jurying.

12:30 - 1:15pm: Three groups were called to be put through jury selection - I was not one of them (not sad, really!). The rest of us were sent home.

4:30pm - checked the schedule for Tuesday. I'm on.

Day two to follow!