I got called to be in the jury pool for the past two days and I have come away with a few observations.
$10/day is a joke. They told us that it was set by the feds during the Truman administration and has never changed. A quick search shows that plenty of states have chosen to raise the amount/ If they were to raise it to even $40/day, that would get more low income people willing to show up, since it would be a less drastic hit to their paycheck. The fact that they provide bus tickets is nice though and, for the record, I have a pass provided by my work so I told them I didn’t need any. This seemed to shock the lady handing them out and she thanked me.
I sat in a large room with probably 100 – 150 other people, most of whom had tablets or laptops. Ever hour or two a woman would come to the podium, announce names and assign that name a number, then an hour later those folks would disappear a bit only to have most of them come back after an hour. It felt a little like a P.K. Dick short story.
The first case I was called for involved a questionnaire. I was slightly concerned that I was the 3rd person called on my first day and was given number 219. The questionnaire was 5 questions dealing with my ability to be involved with a 36 day trial. I explained on the paper that missing that much work would result in my being unable to pay my bills or rent and that, while I was happy to fulfill my civic duty, I was unwilling to become homeless to do it. After 90 minutes, they saw the wisdom in my words and I was removed from contention in what I can only assume would have been an amazing case that involved murder and political intrigue. Seriously, if work would have covered my salary for the full time of the trial, I would have done it in a heart beat.
My second case was for a misdemeanor incident involving, effectively, someone supposedly not calling in to report to the officials during their work release. We 33 of us were questioned for about an hour. I was one of the randomly selected to be in the juror box and most likely to stay for the trial. It was expected to be a two day trial and I was kind of excited. The state prosecution spent more time asking me questions than any other person. We talked about my interest in law, the classes I have taken, my opinions on jury duty, my time as a bouncer, and if I was doing anything Friday night. Well, ok, that last one was wishful thinking (damn she was adorable) but we talked about more stuff than I do with most women on a first date. The defense attorney started explaining in some detail what the crime in question was, asked general questions to the prospective jurors and when he got to asking if any of us had ever had dealings with homeless people, he just about shit himself when I said I used to be homeless. He asked me some pointed questions and seemed to be thrilled that I was there. After his time was up, the judge excused a woman that was 7 months pregnant from duties, and not 1 second after he said that the lawyers could now start recusing jurors, the prosecution said I could leave. I like to think that they were sweating when they said it, and that the defense was sad to see me go.
Today was a few more questionnaires but apparently my answers weeded me out of the three trials I was pulled for. The rest of my time was watching youtube videos and listening to music. All in all, not a bad two days. Best part is that I found out when I emailed my boss to let her know I was going to be out two days instead of one, that I actually got paid for the past two days *and* I get to keep my the $20. Not bad 🙂