Friday, January 19, 2007

Big sigh of relief

Today I finished a two-week stint on Brooklyn's Grand Jury. Two weeks! Yeah, sure I'll put my life on hold for two weeks, no problem. It was a learning experience though. I had no idea that in New York people who are arrested have to be indicted by a jury. My naive little self had almost no knowledge of the criminal justice system. I don't even watch Law & Order.

I kept reminding myself, "Civic duty. Civic duty. Democracy in action. This is a good thing."

So, yes, it was mind-numbingly repetitive and boring sometimes (I never want to hear the phrase "legally sufficient evidence and reasonable cause to believe" ever again), but now I'm free of jury duty for six years. So that's something. And I got quite a lot of reading in between cases.

2 comments:

CindyS said...

I was lucky, I had jury duty before my phobias took over and when I got picked they brokered a deal and I was out in two days.

Like you I kept thinking about how it was my duty. If and when they call me again I'm not sure I could do it because of my anxiety. I would feel like such a flake getting a doctor's note for that.

CindyS

Jennie said...

If I had a legitimate excuse like that, I'd totally get out of it! If it's going to be a real hardship for you, then you shouldn't have to go. Everyone understands that. :)