Sunday, September 21, 2008

The seasons change; the system does not

For those who don't pay attention to any other sources where this information can be found: The autumnal equinox (marking the official end of summer and start of autumn) occurs Monday at 8:44 a.m. Pacific (so please adjust that for your particular time zone as applicable).

Source: My Simpsons 2008 calendar (which lists the Pacific time--always get a calendar made by those in the same time zone).

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Tomorrow I have jury duty.

I'll end up getting assigned to a jury on a case. I just know it.

I need to have my faith in the judicial system be further undermined by sitting with 11 others and have most of them demonstrate their utter inability to take seriously the admonition against making up their minds before getting to the deliberation. I'm certainly overdue for that.

Really. I've served on two juries in the past. I have noticed a pattern.

I'm not saying we as humans aren't inclined to jump to conclusions (of course we are); I'm just saying that's specifically what one is told not to do at the beginning of the trial.

It puts me at a distinct disadvantage when I get in the jury room. It's not only that it makes me just a tiny bit more jaded (if you can believe that); it turns me into the jerk who's keeping the rest of the jurors from getting home.

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I should probably mention that during the voir dire interviews with the attorneys: "You should be aware that if you keep me on the jury I will actually keep an open mind until we deliberate, but I'm not going to be able to convince the likely prejudicial majority of people one way or the other with some Henry Ford-like speech. So if what you want is a jury that can reach a verdict quickly because they all already have made up their mind in the courtroom, then I'm not your man."

They probably deserve that.

It's not that I'm trying to get out of serving; I'm merely throwing off the system by listening.

Silly me.

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Just mentioning this: If you have any thoughts on this (or any other post), do feel free to share them by clicking on the "thoughts on this" link below. They need not be well-considered. (Clearly I'm not doing that with the posts, so it would be hypocritical to expect that in comments.) Thanks for dropping by and reading all the way to the end, whether you leave a thought or not.

3 comments:

  1. Doug:

    I was going to post and let you know that I do read your blog on a semi-regular basis and so don't take my lack of comments as an indication that I've dropped your site from my Bloglines list. Too many blogs, not enough time.

    But now I can't tell you that since you've been sequestered.

    Ray

    PS: Hang the bastard!! [G]

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know you're still checking in, Ray. (I see activity from New York when I check my site meter.)

    Thanks for reading the small print, too.

    P.S. They did.

    ReplyDelete

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