I, the Jury Member

I’m a little disappointed these days. That's because I feel like I missed out on a great civil ritual. This ritual is something people gripe about, but find worthwhile. 

I”m talking about jury duty. How many of you have been on a jury? Over the summer, I had a summons for the federal court of the Southern District of New York. 

The opportunity intrigued me. I’ve never actually been on a jury. I see it as a civic duty, as vital as voting. I was called to jury duty in Stamford when I lived in Connecticut. I sat all day for a personal injury case, a fall in the parking lot of a big retailer. At the end of the day the opposing attorneys asked about my background, readiness to serve and attitudes relevant to the case. One asked, “What’s your view of personal injury lawsuits?”

My response: “I think a lot of them are opportunistic, people looking for a payout.” As you can imagine, the defense attorney’s eyes sparkled with otherworldly delight. The plaintiff’s attorney was aghast and made sure I was never, ever on that jury. A court official thanked me for my service and sent me on my merry way.

I have been in court before, as a participant--divorce court, traffic court, experiences that I don’t want to replicate, as I was on the defendant side of the equation and once was more than enough. 

Jury duty is something else altogether and I wanted to do that. The federal court summons required me to get from Katonah down to Pearl Street in lower Manhattan. As the instructions made clear, I could forget about serving at the federal court in White Plains wasn’t an option.

I carefully prepared for the first day, where everything from process to location was new to me. I painstakingly prepared people at work for my absence. I figured out how to use e-tickets on my phone. Checking train schedules, I decided to take the 5:55 to make sure I got to court by 8:30. In fact, I was an hour early, so I rambled around Chinatown and the court district until jurors could enter. I was on my way, baby! Ready to serve the cause of justice!

I wasn’t chosen for a case on the first two days. On the third, I made the cut for a civil case. The next day was Yom Kippur and then something else came up, so court would resume the next week.

Then Sunday a court official called to say don’t come down on Monday, the case was being held over to the next week. OK. The next week I called the court to check and to my utter surprise, I learned my service was done, I didn’t need to come in. I didn’t get many details of what was going on and I didn’t ask, being in shock. I should soon get my certificate confirming I served. Several weeks later I printed the online statement confirming my service, and soon got the check for my days and travel expenses.

So, there we are. My thoughts? The judges impressed me with their careful questioning of jurors on our backgrounds, our interests, any factor that could keep us from being impartial. This took hours but resulted, at day’s end, in juries that plaintiffs and defense felt could judge fairly. 

Listening to fellow candidates, I got a glimpse into so many levels of society. Blue collar, white collar, union workers, Wall Street executives, immigrants. Every day, several were excused, for reasons obvious and also unknown. This spoke to a process that was deliberate and thoughtful.

I also liked the chance to get out of the home office for an urban experience. Granted, I felt nervous being on the subway. The pandemic and rising crime spooked me. I wore an N95 mask in response to the first, and for the second, well, I crossed my fingers and hoped. 

I also enjoyed wandering around with my trusty camera. At the end of my first day, I stumbled upon a raucous anti-mask mandate protest in Foley Square. The number of people stunned me, right there in the blue state! I documented the scene with my cellphone, the kind of street photography I miss during the pandemic. 

So now I’m back in the home office. No more trips to Pearl Street. Can you volunteer to do jury duty? Maybe that’ll be a post-retirement project in the future. I still want the opportunity to sit in judgment. I’ll  see if I can get the coveted White Plains assignment the next time, thanks.

Big demo at Foley Square, near the court.