Like many Americans, every few years I get called in for jury service, and I’m up this week. I’ve served only once on a jury, back when I was a first year law student. I was genuinely surprised that the DA decided to keep me on the panel, given that I was already studying law, but she probably figured “Asian male, possibly conservative” and that was a gamble she’d be willing to take, given the high likelihood of a very liberal jury in Berkeley, CA.
The case was an interesting one: The defendant was accused of distributing clean needles to drug addicts within City limits, but he didn’t have a permit to do so. The City wasn’t providing this service at the time, and heroin users were contracting HIV from dirty needles and dying from it. Studies showed the needle exchange programs didn’t encourage drug use and actually strongly reduced transmission of the disease. We wound up acquitting the defendant, despite the strict nature of the law, on the ground that he was doing it to save lives when the City wasn’t doing anything.
After becoming an actual lawyer, I have been dismissed every time before being empaneled, which isn’t surprising. While it’s possible for me to be picked today, if they asked any questions at all the DA would probably dismiss me using one of their “peremptory challenges”—meaning they don’t have to give any reason at all for the dismissal.
It may take a few days for them to ferret me out, so I’m not sure this week if I’ll be able to write my morning installments. But if there’s good internet at the courthouse, I’ll try to stay on top of it while I do my civic duty as a member of the jury pool.
Jay
I've only been on a jury once in my life, in Tucson, AZ, decades ago. I was originally a semi-finalist for a grisly murder trial, but, I didn't make the cut, thankfully. I'm pretty sure the photos would have haunted me forever. I got sent back to the room, and eventually got picked for another trial, that was literally over that same day. Weirdly, I can't remember what it was about, but, we sided with the defendant. AZ had this thing at the time, that even if you didn't get picked, showing up that day, counted towards your service. About 6 months after my mother died, I got a jury duty notice for her. I was the Executrix for her will, so I sent it back with a note that she had recently died, gave the my phone number, and forgot all about it. A month or so later, I got a very official looking letter, addressed to my mom, that she had failed to show up for her jury service, and if she didn't show up on the next date, they would send a sheriff to get her. This was in PA, where apparently, they take jury duty really seriously. I called, and informed the person that my mother was dead, and she would most definitely not be showing up for jury duty. The guy put me on hold, came back and said, I guess that's going to be okay. I basically told him that if they really wanted to send a sheriff to get my mom, she had a new address, and I promptly gave him the name of the cemetery, and her burial plot, and hung up. I think my name got on some list somewhere, to never call me for jury duty again because I appear to be a smart ass. Good luck this week.
Thank you. Simply, thank you.