Jury Duty

Last Month I got a letter in the mail, a letter I doubt anyone looks forward to getting. It was from Superior Court of California County of Sacramento. and on the outside it had in big black letters OFFICIAL JURY SUMMONS ENCLOSED. Obviously I didn't think I was receiving a check from the state for a million dollars. Nothing good could come in an envelope labeled in such a way.


I had been hopeful that I wouldn't have to do more than just call in every day and not have to actually go downtown and spend the day waiting and walking from Jury lounge to court room to Jury lounge etc. However that was not the case because when I called in last night I got the message that I had to report to the courthouse bright and early Wednesday morning to do my civic duty. I got off work last night at 1 am and had to get things ready to go later that morning to Jury duty. I had to read over my Jury summons letter again since I hadn't read it since I got it last month.


I had to make sure I knew how to get there and figure out about how long it would take. I didn't want to be late or miss the chance to park for free in the jury parking lot.


I also needed to make sure I didn't take my usual items I carry with me, such as my pocket knife, Leatherman, and fingernail clippers. I don't understand the whole you can't take fingernail clippers on planes or in court, what am I going to do manicure someone to death? And yes I have heard it has to do with the little file on the clippers. What could I do with that little file that would cause a problem? I could do more damage with a ballpoint pen than I could with that file, and yet I carried in probably about 10 pens in my bag with no problem or questions asked as to why I would have so many pens in my bag.

Or why I had 3 flashlights in my bag and one small one in my pocket. Just so you know one flashlight was in my purse, 2 flashlights are in my backpack (I use them at work when we test the genereator in the mornings) and the one in my pocket just comes in handy from time to time when I need a little light.
As you can see most of the flashlights are made of metal and yet the security didn't even bat an eye at them.

So for the whole day I walked around the court house with this badge on.
After getting into the court house I went upstairs to the jury waiting room and checked in. I was handed a questionnaire to fill out to expedite the jury selection process. When I was called to a panel and sent up to the court room we sat in the hallway for about 1/2 an hour until they came out and started calling the names of the first group to sit in the jury box as well as 6 alternates. As I stood listening for my name I started to notice a pattern. All the people who's names they called were minorities. Then filled the box and the alternates and the rest of us filed in to sit in the gallery. The Judge explained the basics of the case and started questioning the prospective Jurymen. I know know more details about 18 strangers than I knew about my closest friends. I was just glad I didn't get the third degree. The judge dismissed one juror for hardship and the lawyers dismissed one other. Then they settled on the two alternates and set the rest of us back to the jury room.

That took about 4 hours and so when we got back to the jury waiting room we were sent to lunch for about 1 1/2 hours. I chocked down some gross food in the court house cafeteria, not wanting to go through security a second time. Then back to the jury room where we got to wait for more panels to be called. They called a panel of which I was not included in and they said they had 3 more court rooms that will need juries but they had not heard from them yet. So we waited. When I got back to the jury room after lunch there was a movie playing on the tv set which was Night at the Museum. Which had about 1/2 hour left so I watch that. Then they put in another movie which was The Game Plan. I watch that movie in its entirety. At that point the guy behind the desk got on the speaker and said he had good news and bad news which did we want to hear? Someone in the group said bad so the guy said we still have 2 more court rooms to fill juries for. The good news is I just saved a ton of money on my insurance. Everyone groaned but then he said because it was late and the court rooms had not requested juries we all were going to be able to go home. That was good news since it was now about 3:30 pm and I could if I got check out possibly make it to work on time. Well I had to wait for my group and of course it was the last group but I did get out of there only to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, then another line on the freeway trying to get to Rancho Cordova to work. I was only about 20 minutes late for work which was great as I had figured I would be more like 2 hours late. Lucky for me that night at work was quiet with no problems and I got out of there and headed home.

Have you ever noticed that the more tired you are the harder it is to get to sleep? Well it was for me and I didn't get to bed until about 3:30 am. It was a very long two days for me but the best part was I only had one more day of work this week and then I can catch up on my sleep. Check off Civic duty done for at least 12 months.