Jury Duty

    Yesterday I went in for jury duty for the fourth time in my life. In the state in which I live, citizens are called in every three years. However I suspect that people who move frequently may never receive a notice. As with almost everything associated with government potential coercion is involved as those who fail to appear are subject to a fine of two thousand dollars.
    Juries are a product of the British heritage of the US. They decide the guilt or innocence of a person charged of a crime; the judge decides the sentence for those determined guilty. In the past they were always composed of twelve people. Nowadays the number is often less, perhaps six or seven.
    My prior three summons did not result in my being empaneled on a jury nor did this latest time. I was directed to a small courthouse which apparently has a limited number of trials in any given day. In my state one serves one day or one trial. Yesterday there were only two, both of which were settled without a jury. I suspect that there is considerable pressure on people to settle in this way. Lawyers are very expensive, and plea bargaining, a process by which a person pleads guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence, is common.
    We were supposed to arrive by 8:30. There were thirty-two chairs for potential jurors of which about twenty were filled. The court officer give a little speech indicating how his little courthouse was better than that of a much larger neighboring city. We then began to watch a little video about the court system. About half way through, a judge, a slender middle aged woman in her judicial robe, entered and the video was stopped. She explained that the trials had been settled and that our services were not needed.
   We filed out, went downstairs through a mob of people, and out to our cars. Mine was in a parking garage for which i paid the tiny sum of thirty-five cents.
     As is my normal practice I allotted extra time for my journey there. This proved wise as a bridge was out over the river with no detour signs to indicate another means of crossing. Fortunately I found a man who gave me good directions. I had never  been in that city before.