This morning I had to appear at one of the county courthouses ready to serve on a jury. I left in plenty of time, not knowing how long it would take in morning commute traffic, and was seated in the jury room at 8:30 for my 9:00 call. Other prospective jurors trickled in over the next hour till it was standing room only. At 9:47 the clerk gave us an orientation to jury duty, including a video. Then we had to wait...and wait...and wait. A few minutes past twelve, quite a few of us were called, having been randomly selected by the computer, and told to take a break for lunch then report back at 1:30. The others were thanked and excused. So I grabbed a turkey sandwich and Snapple from a food kiosk downstairs and finished reading my book. About 1:40 the clerk said the judge was on his way to our gathering room. What? That had never happened in my several jury calls. When he appeared, the black-robed judge thanked us for coming and waiting so long then excused us. Apparently by our being present and ready to serve, we helped persuade more than one set of supplicants to settle without going to a jury trial. Fancy that! It makes me wonder what the various issues were, that made someone not want to risk a trial.
Thus my jury service is done for at least twelve months.
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