I received THE letter in the mail a few weeks ago (amazing because we lost our mail key and only get it when we happen to see the mailman out there). I thought about trying to get out of it. I went through the excuses. I have 8 children. I have no sitter. Jack's still nursing. Bekkah's got a heart problem and I can't leave her too long. The younger kids get out of school first, no one will be home for them. The list goes on and on. But sense of duty won out.
The day before you serve you are told to call a number and listen to see if you are still needed. I made my call at 4:30 pm and the recording said to call back again the next day at 11am to see if I was still needed. Apparently they think I sit around all day by the phone. I called again and the recording told me to be there in an hour. So I left Tres in charge of Jack and Bekkah, along with the phone number of a close friend in case of emergency (like a diaper change! Thanks Trinity!!) and headed off to court.
I've never sat on a jury, never made it past that phone call, so I was very glad I brought a book. There is a lot of waiting involved in the American legal process! I was finally escorted in to meet the judge along with 30 other people. This is where we were all asked a lot of questions to see which lucky nine of us would spend the next few days together deciding a man's fate. Ok it wasn't that dramatic, apparently a guy stole a piece of farm sprinkler equipment. Our tax dollars at work!
Each of us had to stand, tell what we did for a living, what our significant other did, how many children we have and their ages. Most people seemed to work for banks or fast food. Some were full time students, others were retired. I was the only one in the room who was a homemaker (I guess all the other ones got out of it!) When I got to the part where I said I had eight children there was an audible gasp from the other jurors. And when I struggled with the ages (hey, that's a lot to remember off the top of your head) there was a little giggling. Oh well. Apparently the attorneys don't like unemployed housewives with 8 kids, because an hour later I was excused to go home to my family with the assurance that I would get another opportunity in no less that two years. Maybe I'll fulfill my civic duty in 2011!
2 comments:
Fun adventure!! Glad you didn't have to be on the jury. I hear that is a real eye opener as to what the judicial system is doing while the rest of us think they are working!
Let me know if you ever need help with little ones!
Been there--done that--WAY too many times! Todd has NEVER been called up! I have always gotten out of it too. Not because I have children, but mostly because I have a strong opinion, like "I don't care how many drinks someone had, they should NEVER drive after drinking." Lawyers don't like people like me either. Oh well!
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