The two hour lunch & my Civic Duty
Yep---it's Jville in a moment of (Photoshopped--is that a verb now?) glory!
A skyline at sunset with some solarization going on.....or was it just a wild moment in
the curves panel......anyway, downtown Jacksonville is the subject here.
My tale today involves the fulfillment of my civic duty in our county, state, country, etc,
etc, etc. I received my summons to appear for jury duty a couple of weeks ago, but was of
course, hoping not to serve. You call the weekend before reporting on Monday to see if your group
is needed. Guess that Monday is always jury picking day. Group 002 was destined to report.
I must report. First you have to get up early, shower, dress decently and head downtown (20+miles)
from the beach. This means sitting in bumper to bumper traffic beginning about 7 minutes into the ride.
I rarely drive anywhere at this hour---definitely not with the destination of downtown Jax.
It took me about 45 minutes to get to the parking provided at the Stadium.
Next you take a Jury Shuttle to the courthouse, go through a metal detector, get checked in,
listen to a welcome, fill out a little paperwork to get paid up to $30/day & watch a video.
Then lots of people get up & try to escape with some excuse or another---some succeed.
Then the judge, room & number of jurors required are announced & names are shown on a screen.
You report if named. By 11:15 us left overs (the uncalled) were moved into a smaller room where
we were told to go to lunch until 1pm. That would have been nice in good weather, but it was a little cold
& a lot windy. A few of us walked to the Jacksonville Landing to eat.
I was called on the first panel after lunch of 21 people. A DUI case. Each juror had to stand a reveal
lots of personal information to everyone in the courtroom---starting with your actual birthday & ending
with whether you had ever been arrested or accused of a crime. It was certainly more interesting than
sitting in the first room for hours. But it took about an hour and a half. I was not chosen & we could
return to our cars via the Jury Shuttle.
I guess it wasn't so bad. They kept emphasizing how important it was for us to take part in in the process.
I suppose I helped keep America free today. If that's true, I guess it wasn't wasted after all.
PHOTIP: If they call you for Jury Duty, just do it! Take your camera, maybe you'll see a nice
sunrise on the way.
BLESSINGS!
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Posted by Pamela at 3/22/2010 10:29 PM 
Categories: Personal
Tags: juror. 2 hours lunch jury Jacksonville
Categories: Personal
Tags: juror. 2 hours lunch jury Jacksonville
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