Jury Duty Postscript

(image from here)

After two & half days of tedium, I was not chosen for a jury.  Here is what I wrote on Facebook:

Released from jury duty!

To be honest I had a great deal of anxiety about serving. It was to be a four-week trial, & I would not have enjoyed that.

Yesterday (that is to say, Tuesday) I happened to mention that I was a "David v. Goliath" type of guy & I overwhelmingly rooted for the Davids of the world.

Today (this would be Wednesday) a lawyer for the defense asked me to elaborate, & I mentioned that I had talked generally about the case with my wife (we weren't allowed to talk about the specifics with anyone) & my wife had said, "They wouldn't want you on a jury in a trial  against a corporation. You HATE corporations!"

The lawyer then asked if that were so, would I not be biased against her client.

I said I would try but she said, "& yet if your wife had said you hated corporations..."

I said, "Yeah, I'd trust her. She's smarter than me."

That probably ended my chances right there.

Despite some of my friends, who said I should have lied so I could side against the little guy against greedy corporations, I had neither the confidence required to imagine I could convince eleven strangers to see things my way (& this is before I knew the facts of the case) nor the desire to waste four weeks on a trial about which I couldn't be sure I'd make any difference.

The relief that spread over me when my juror number was not called, ah! I wish I could drink a bottle of that a night.

Was I glad to see the process? Sure. Am I amazed that it exists? Yes! It's long & dumb & messy & there has to be a better way. But so far there isn't.

Here's hoping I'm not in a courthouse again for many many years.