Tales of Douchebaggery #2
Scenes from a Courthouse
I had the pleasure of sitting on a jury pool two weeks ago. Now..in the 21 years since I turned 18 I have been called to jury duty five times. This past time was the first since 2002. I was still under the impression that people were supposed to dress up somewhat. I can recall my earliest jury summons notices stating that jurors should dress appropriately for a serious civic duty.
I can remember wearing a suit to my first two times...and most of the men wearing at least shirts and ties. The people in "street" wear were so few that they stood out.
Oh lordy how the times have changed in a small span of time.
I was only one of two men in a suit this latest time. A few were in business casual...sweaters and such...but most were in jeans and t-shirts...or worse. A few of the younger kids looked like they were on call as extras in a 50 Cent video....complete with ballcaps, shades and and way too fucking much bling. The women were even worse. One lady was in pajama bottoms.
I thought it was odd and sad that the defendants in the halls were dressed better than the prospective jurors.
Anyway...the real douchebaggery comes not from the slovenly dress of my fellow jurors (and my crotchety complaining about it)...but from their behavior.
I really, really, really hope I never have to face a jury. Because these people sure ain't my peers.
I say a conservative estimate of the percentage of people who slept in the jury pool room was 40%...slept through the head judge's speech....the intro of a visiting Japanese judicial official (Japan is adding the jury system to it's legal system)...the instructional video...the talk from the bailiff...etc, etc, etc. The snoring was so loud at times people were laughing. People couldn't stay off their cell phones even when explicitly told to...and at least three dummies took off their shoes (one with some serious foot stink) and used chairs as footrests so they could recline and sleep. At least two people got into arguments with the court officers...one shouting...when they were told they couldn't bring food back into the room.
Ach. Maybe the Japanese legal official will go home and declare the jury system is not a good idea. Then again...the Japanese are better behaved as a people.
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4 comments:
I'm sorry I got distracted picturing you in a suit.
Apparently, I'd be a bad juror. But then I never get picked to serve (maybe I need to replace the skirt and heels with yoga pants next time).
THAT is how people were dressed daily at my corporation before they instituted a dress policy which includes ties or sportcoats, my choice.
The youngest ladies from this one large department were on a race to the shortest skirts possible, and I regret the dress code every day now.
I think the japanese official is used to seeing people sleep at unusual times.
Oh yeah. I was called to jury duty in the federal court in downtown nyc about 5 or 6 years ago. I was appalled at the behavior. Seems most of the prospective jurors' only goal was to say or do anything that would get them out of doing their duty.
On top of that, the defendant was a young black man, but there was only one black person on the jury as selected. Peers my ass.
The final straw was after the 12 had been initially selected, but they were going to move into the nitty gritty phase where the prosecutor and defense attorneys asked questions and eliminated some.
This case involved the young man, drugs, and FBI agents. So this woman sitting next to me said, right out loud "Well he must be guilty if that many FBI agents are involved." Now, the fucking jury hasn't even been selected, and she has already found him guilty. 'Cause we all know that the FBI would never try to fabricate a case against a young black man. Would they?!
Anyway, I couldn't keep my mouth shut and reported it to the court aides and later on to the judge. She wound up being eliminated, but then so was I. I guess the prosecutor figured if I would speak up about the other juror, I might just speak up in other ways they didn't want to deal with.
What a system. You're right, I wouldn't want to find myself in the position of being on trial by jury.
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