Jury Doody…. See, it’s a pun…get it

So the Clockwinder received the notice from the county government and did his civic duty by heading into the courthouse to serve as a possible juror for a day…or two. I thought I’d share the experience so that people in other countries…such as New Jersey… would know what it is like.

So you arrive at the courthouse at 8:15 AM, your first obstacle is the Metal detector/ reminder that your one of the little people station. I motored up, having listened to the recording the night before, Sans phone, ipod, black berry or any other device or weapon and was told to empty my pockets and remove my belt…”Remove my belt”??... but being a sheep in the lair of the wolf I complied. After they confiscated one of the keys from my keyring for the day, I got the achievement unlock and headed to the next challenge.

Check in was surprisingly easy…I supplied a copy of my notice and parking stub ( as I had listened to the recording….baaaaa) and had it validated and followed the instructions to sit in the waiting area.

Now the waiting area is a large room full of chairs that are just a hair on the + side of uncomfortable. You and 150 friends (or comrades) attempt to make your self comfortable while over the next 45 minutes people are called up to make corrections on their jury questionnaires.

A judge came out and gave us a speech, then a jury guy gives us the low down, we’ll have a 10 minute break cause the bailiffs are already on their way down, there are apparently 35 cases on the dock today and things are about to get jumping.

So after break I squeeze back into my chair and wait for the action to begin…and wait…and wait. Hours latter, after having not called a single jury, we are all thanked and sent home.

::::Blink…Blink::::

You see, apparently Jurors are sort of a unpaid legal tool, some sort of Judicial trump card, who cause lawyers and clients to settle/ cop a plea or what ever.

So I walked back to the parking garage, climbed in my car with the consolation that I had done my civic duty.