Warning:
What I am about to write about is simply my experience of doing jury duty for the very first time last month. What you will not see is the following:
- what the case was about
- where the case was located
- what type of case it was
- the judge of the case
- any names mentioned as it pertains to the case
Thank you for your time.
~Management
WITH THAT BEING SAID, I will be very brief 🙂
Okay… so this year began with the most adulting thing I have ever experienced: JURY DUTY. For most people, it is the most inconvenient thing that could ever come their way. I told a few people that I had jury duty, and their immediate response was something along the lines of, “Oh, that sucks. I’m sorry to hear that.” I’ve always wondered why people hated jury duty so much… and what about jury duty makes people cringe? I was always curious about why; so I didn’t feel upset or grumpy about being summonsed.
This was my first time doing it, second time being summonsed. (Since I was a college student at the time; so I was able to get out of it.) I didn’t know what to expect when I got up there. Now what I did learn is that it was a PROCESS to select the jury… close to a 2-hr long process. Bruh! It was a little nerve-wrecking and a bit hilarious. It was clear that some people were really trying to get out of jury duty and they were doing everything they can to get out of it. Regardless of the process, I understood that the judge and attorneys want to make sure that they chose the correct people to be jurors for the case. I was chose to be an alternate juror, one who takes the place of a juror if he/she is unable to work on it.
Overall, the court case was pretty interesting and the jurors were taken cared of with breakfast snacks. I think what I appreciated the most about my experience is that the jurors were treated as very important people. Ya’ll… I FELT SOOO IMPORTANT AS A JUROR! Even though I wasn’t a part of the regular jury, and I wasn’t able to deliberate, I still was treated like another important juror. I’ll be honest and say that I would’ve loved to be a part of the deliberation, but I was happy to be a part. They even gave me the chance to call back to see if they came to a decision! (I never took them up on that offer because I forgot… I’ll blame work *lol*)
Jury Duty isn’t that bad! I was intrigued the whole time 😀 I learned about a few things abut law and what certain terms mean in land of law. If there’s anyone out there getting ready to experience jury duty for the first time, make your own opinion about it. Re-frame from coming in with negative opinions from other people. It is a bit of an inconvenience when you have to take off of work or you’re not getting paid from your job, which sucks, but it’s really not that bad. I have heard that it all depends on the case. The good thing is that the case I sat in on wasn’t too bad boring-wise. Overall, Jury Duty is not that bad. It’s an opportunity to learn about how your city’s judicial system works.
That’s all! Take care!
~Live Laugh Love~