I spent this morning awaiting my draw in a jury pool for the county court system. One would not think three hours spent trying and failing to stay awake would prove particularly enlightening, but then again, it's me. So I found certain thing fascinating.
The "orientation" video, called We, the People, might as well have been called Jury Duty 101: Q&A for Boneheads. Perhaps I'm being too harsh there, but there was nothing about the presentation that informed, enlightened, or otherwise augmented my perception of the process. To the other, someone failed to realize that the video is subtitled; the closed-caption boxes laid over the subtitles, and the transcription was atrocious. One might be tempted to think that this is the first time they ever ran that video, but nope ....
There was much talk, however, both in the video presentation and the short remarks by a superior court judge, about "democracy", and our valuable contribution to democratic government by serving our duty. Considering the general reaction to my notice--"Ignore it," or "F@ck 'em"--maybe this sort of powdery encouragement is necessary.
But I find the prospect fascinating; having narrowly escaped going to trial last year, I have the opportunity to witness the judicial process from another perspective. And while I certainly have better things I could be doing with my time, it's not so bad. I'm on a two-hour break before voir dire.
So tell me what you think: Is jury duty a "colossal waste of time", as the judge recalled of one juror response questionnaire? Or merely an inconvenience worthy of no more than apathy?
Or are we really upholding a pillar of vaunted democracy?
Justice? Or BS? You make the call.
The "orientation" video, called We, the People, might as well have been called Jury Duty 101: Q&A for Boneheads. Perhaps I'm being too harsh there, but there was nothing about the presentation that informed, enlightened, or otherwise augmented my perception of the process. To the other, someone failed to realize that the video is subtitled; the closed-caption boxes laid over the subtitles, and the transcription was atrocious. One might be tempted to think that this is the first time they ever ran that video, but nope ....
There was much talk, however, both in the video presentation and the short remarks by a superior court judge, about "democracy", and our valuable contribution to democratic government by serving our duty. Considering the general reaction to my notice--"Ignore it," or "F@ck 'em"--maybe this sort of powdery encouragement is necessary.
But I find the prospect fascinating; having narrowly escaped going to trial last year, I have the opportunity to witness the judicial process from another perspective. And while I certainly have better things I could be doing with my time, it's not so bad. I'm on a two-hour break before voir dire.
So tell me what you think: Is jury duty a "colossal waste of time", as the judge recalled of one juror response questionnaire? Or merely an inconvenience worthy of no more than apathy?
Or are we really upholding a pillar of vaunted democracy?
Justice? Or BS? You make the call.