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gnomi(No, not voting (that's my civic duty according to Brookline Town Clerk Pat Ward), jury duty.)
A couple of months ago, not long beforemabfan and I moved, I got a summons in the mail to appear for Jury Duty. Brookline is this tiny little offshoot of Norfolk County, and therefore I was originally scheduled to serve in the Dedham courthouse. I asked for (and received) a change of venue to Quincy, as it is also in Norfolk County and is T accessible (which the Dedham courthouse is not).
So yesterday morning I set out at 7:00 AM-ish to wend my way to the courthouse in Quincy (a five-minute walk from the Quincy Center T stop). I arrived around 8:15 (for an 8:30 AM appearance time) and made my way upstairs to the second-floor jury room.
Over the next half-hour or so (despite the admonishment on the summons to arrive promptly, a number of my fellow jurors wandered in between 8:30 and 8:45), the 18 of us summoned for that day's service arrived at the jury room and got settled in for a long day of sitting and waiting. Having served before, I knew ahead of time to bring reading material, knitting to amuse myself (I had no problem with the metal detectors on the first floor because my needles are bamboo), and snacks.
At about 8:50, the court officer assigned to the jury pool checked us all in and gave us our jury badges (basically pieces of card stock with our name, the date, and our juror number. Mine was 11 (this becomes relevant later)). He then showed us the videotape that every court in Massachusetts shows its jurors that explains the importance of jury service and the mechanics of court proceedings.
I briefly disconcerted the court officer, as my summons had been sent to our old address and I wanted to update my information with the jury system. After he'd checked everyone in, I went back up to his desk and said, "Excuse me. I recently moved, and I need to change my address." He got a very concerned look on his face and said, "Where did you move *to*?" "Oh, no," I said. "I moved within Brookline; I'm still eligible to serve here today." He looked relieved and handed me a short form to fill out. I then returned the form to him and he said he'd file it with the appropriate office.
The court officer attempted to find a judge to say good morning to us, but apparently all of the judges were otherwise occupied, because none was able to come and greet us. We then got a break during which many folks wandered off to get coffee or stretch their legs or whatever.
We all gathered again in the jury room, sitting and occupying ourselves in whatever manner we chose (most of my fellow jurors had brought reading materials, though there were some magazines available in the jury room for general perusal). I finished the foot of my sock and began the toe decreases. We sat around for longer, were given *another* stretching break, and then sometime after about 11:30 AM, we were summoned to the one courtroom that still required a jury.
All 18 of us were ushered in and told to sit in the gallery benches. We were sworn/affirmed in and the judge introduced the players in the case, along with all of the witnesses. He then asked us a series of questions to determine if any of us had a preset bias on one side or another of the case. When none of us answered in the affirmative, he handed both the plaintiff and the defendant copies of our juror questionnaires. Jurors 2 through 9 were asked to step into the jury box and have a seat, as this was a six-person jury with two alternates. The plaintiff and defendant were asked if they had any challenges -- for cause or peremptory -- for these eight jurors. When both sides said no, they dismissed the rest of us back to the jury room.
The court officer of the jury wandered off to confirm that there were no other cases waiting to be heard that needed a jury, and we resumed sitting and waiting. I alternately worked more on my sock toe and read my book. About 40 minutes after we had returned to the jury room, the court officer returned and said, "That's it. You're out of here. See you in three years."
I collected my stuff and headed back out to the T, comfortable in the thought that I had, with very little actual effort on my part, helped the justice system in the Commonwealth.
A couple of months ago, not long before
mabfan and I moved, I got a summons in the mail to appear for Jury Duty. Brookline is this tiny little offshoot of Norfolk County, and therefore I was originally scheduled to serve in the Dedham courthouse. I asked for (and received) a change of venue to Quincy, as it is also in Norfolk County and is T accessible (which the Dedham courthouse is not).So yesterday morning I set out at 7:00 AM-ish to wend my way to the courthouse in Quincy (a five-minute walk from the Quincy Center T stop). I arrived around 8:15 (for an 8:30 AM appearance time) and made my way upstairs to the second-floor jury room.
Over the next half-hour or so (despite the admonishment on the summons to arrive promptly, a number of my fellow jurors wandered in between 8:30 and 8:45), the 18 of us summoned for that day's service arrived at the jury room and got settled in for a long day of sitting and waiting. Having served before, I knew ahead of time to bring reading material, knitting to amuse myself (I had no problem with the metal detectors on the first floor because my needles are bamboo), and snacks.
At about 8:50, the court officer assigned to the jury pool checked us all in and gave us our jury badges (basically pieces of card stock with our name, the date, and our juror number. Mine was 11 (this becomes relevant later)). He then showed us the videotape that every court in Massachusetts shows its jurors that explains the importance of jury service and the mechanics of court proceedings.
I briefly disconcerted the court officer, as my summons had been sent to our old address and I wanted to update my information with the jury system. After he'd checked everyone in, I went back up to his desk and said, "Excuse me. I recently moved, and I need to change my address." He got a very concerned look on his face and said, "Where did you move *to*?" "Oh, no," I said. "I moved within Brookline; I'm still eligible to serve here today." He looked relieved and handed me a short form to fill out. I then returned the form to him and he said he'd file it with the appropriate office.
The court officer attempted to find a judge to say good morning to us, but apparently all of the judges were otherwise occupied, because none was able to come and greet us. We then got a break during which many folks wandered off to get coffee or stretch their legs or whatever.
We all gathered again in the jury room, sitting and occupying ourselves in whatever manner we chose (most of my fellow jurors had brought reading materials, though there were some magazines available in the jury room for general perusal). I finished the foot of my sock and began the toe decreases. We sat around for longer, were given *another* stretching break, and then sometime after about 11:30 AM, we were summoned to the one courtroom that still required a jury.
All 18 of us were ushered in and told to sit in the gallery benches. We were sworn/affirmed in and the judge introduced the players in the case, along with all of the witnesses. He then asked us a series of questions to determine if any of us had a preset bias on one side or another of the case. When none of us answered in the affirmative, he handed both the plaintiff and the defendant copies of our juror questionnaires. Jurors 2 through 9 were asked to step into the jury box and have a seat, as this was a six-person jury with two alternates. The plaintiff and defendant were asked if they had any challenges -- for cause or peremptory -- for these eight jurors. When both sides said no, they dismissed the rest of us back to the jury room.
The court officer of the jury wandered off to confirm that there were no other cases waiting to be heard that needed a jury, and we resumed sitting and waiting. I alternately worked more on my sock toe and read my book. About 40 minutes after we had returned to the jury room, the court officer returned and said, "That's it. You're out of here. See you in three years."
I collected my stuff and headed back out to the T, comfortable in the thought that I had, with very little actual effort on my part, helped the justice system in the Commonwealth.
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 10:43 pm (UTC)The court officer did give us a nice speech in the morning though, about how we did our duty just by coming in because our very presence in the building caused attorneys to quake and settle out of court. It's nice to be told "You are wise and intimidating!" rather than "You're a winner just for showing up!"