Christina Wilson wrote:
> 
> 
> jmsatb5{at}aol.com wrote:
> 
>> Kay Shapero wrote:
>>
>>> In article ,
>>> dan_dassow{at}yahoo.com says...
>>>
>>>> You see, JMS has been given the ultimate time line wrecker -- jury
>>>> duty. (JMS on a jury. What we would give to be in that deliberation
>>>> room).
>>>
>>> My word - I'm on jury duty in Los Angeles myself.  The criminal
>>> courthouse downtown, to be precise.  Don't expect to run into Joe (there
>>> are a LOT of people tapped for jury duty every week), more's the pity.
>>> Be nice to have someone around who could understand the wisecracks I
>>> have been so carefully NOT making.  (nor chanting "Yo -e
-ho" as per
>>> Wizard of Oz when being marched into the courtroom in two lines, nor...)
>>
>>
>> Yeah, that's where I have to report on Tuesday morning.  Anybody out
>> there in the LA judicial system wanna help out a writer in need who's
>> behind on deadlines...?
>>
>> jms
>>
>>
> Sorry, but I'm stuck doing the same thing in El Dorado county on Tuesday.
> 
> I'd always wanted to serve on a jury, but after 2 times through the 
> selection process...
> 
> At $5/day who can afford it?
> 
> Christina
> 
When it becomes a financial hardship, it's impossible to recognize the 
service for what it is.  I have always looked on jury duty with pride. 
If you think about it, it's really one of the very few (if not only) 
civic responsibilities we are *required* to do (you don't have to vote, 
you can find ways to avoid paying taxes, military service is strictly 
voluntary (for now), etc).  To make this one duty a hardship is silly.

I've been fortunate to do county service three times, and got to serve 
on a federal grand jury as well.  Grand jury is an interesting 
experience.  You meet twice a month for eighteen months, and your sole 
purpose is to determine whether or not the government has a case as 
required by the Constitution.  Most of these are rubber-stamp issues, 
but you do occasionally get something long term and very interesting. 
There were a number of immigration violations, and bank robberies, some 
mail fraud, and one piracy case.  Our favorite moment, though, was the 
one time we rejected the government's case--the look of surprise on the 
attorney's face was something else (it was something that if they had 
actually maintained an appropriate chain of evidence we would have said 
"yes").

Blair

BTW, I understand that the tour of "12 Angry Men" is pretty good.  It 
stars Richard Thomas and George Wendt, and I've seen at least one good 
review of it--it hits Sacramento in March.
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32