Trial by my peers? Have you MET my peers?
Jan. 16th, 2019 08:10 amBack in November I received a jury duty summons from the nearest U.S. District Court. Eyeroll, sigh, fine, I'll eat my civic duty while it's warm. Normally I'd hope for something fluffy, non-life-or-death, like an interesting property dispute or something; the U.S. District Court generally isn't in the fluffy law business, but this appears to be a civil rather than criminal suit, so hope springing eternal as always I crossed my fingers and wished for something not too awful.
There was a form to fill out and return, of course, but there was also enclosed a 30+ page questionnaire to be completed, presumably to streamline the selection process. I no longer have a copy to quote from verbatim, but please take a moment to try and picture my facial expressions as I flipped through it for the first time, as I discovered the questions below along the way:
Name, address, occupation, marriage status, number of kids, etc.
Blah, blah. Fine.
From what source(s) do you usually get information on current events?
You mean, am I a Fox News kinda guy? No, and no. Where exactly are you going with this?
Are you familiar with the movement known as Black Lives Matter?
...uh-oh....
Some people believe that because police officers' work is so dangerous, they should be given more leeway to act without fearing repercussions. Do you agree?
[covers eyes, reads through fingers] Ohhh, no....
Do you feel personal injury payments have gotten out of hand?
Oh god oh god oh god.... [hides behind couch]
So nope, totes not fluffy. And now I have a quandary, because I don't want to do jury duty any more than the next guy, but if I'm interested in justice I also don't want the next guy adjudicating a racially-motivated police brutality case. I've met the next guy, in YouTube comments and the like, and he scares me. In the end, though, I really don't have much control over whether I'm chosen to serve or not, because as this is a court document I have to answer honestly. Which I did: Have I ever participated in a public demonstration? Why yes, I marched at the Black Friday protest from Macy's to Times Square. Held a sign and everything.
On Monday I received the following email:
Dear![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
slipjig3,
After your reviewing your questionnaire, the Court has excused you from jury service on [DATE]. We thank you for completing the questionnaire.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Clerk, U.S. District Court
Welp.
The good news is, now I can enjoy Arisia without having to worry about choosing a tie the next morning. On the flip side, I'd like to send the following personal message to Mr. John Q. Next Guy, Federal Juror in Good Standing: Don't screw this up. Don't make me come down there.
There was a form to fill out and return, of course, but there was also enclosed a 30+ page questionnaire to be completed, presumably to streamline the selection process. I no longer have a copy to quote from verbatim, but please take a moment to try and picture my facial expressions as I flipped through it for the first time, as I discovered the questions below along the way:
Name, address, occupation, marriage status, number of kids, etc.
Blah, blah. Fine.
From what source(s) do you usually get information on current events?
You mean, am I a Fox News kinda guy? No, and no. Where exactly are you going with this?
Are you familiar with the movement known as Black Lives Matter?
...uh-oh....
Some people believe that because police officers' work is so dangerous, they should be given more leeway to act without fearing repercussions. Do you agree?
[covers eyes, reads through fingers] Ohhh, no....
Do you feel personal injury payments have gotten out of hand?
Oh god oh god oh god.... [hides behind couch]
So nope, totes not fluffy. And now I have a quandary, because I don't want to do jury duty any more than the next guy, but if I'm interested in justice I also don't want the next guy adjudicating a racially-motivated police brutality case. I've met the next guy, in YouTube comments and the like, and he scares me. In the end, though, I really don't have much control over whether I'm chosen to serve or not, because as this is a court document I have to answer honestly. Which I did: Have I ever participated in a public demonstration? Why yes, I marched at the Black Friday protest from Macy's to Times Square. Held a sign and everything.
On Monday I received the following email:
Dear
slipjig3,After your reviewing your questionnaire, the Court has excused you from jury service on [DATE]. We thank you for completing the questionnaire.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Clerk, U.S. District Court
Welp.
The good news is, now I can enjoy Arisia without having to worry about choosing a tie the next morning. On the flip side, I'd like to send the following personal message to Mr. John Q. Next Guy, Federal Juror in Good Standing: Don't screw this up. Don't make me come down there.
