About 95% of the people there looked just as resentful as I felt about being in the courthouse today. But, as the morning wore on, I found myself getting more interested in the process. I was in the second group of jurors to get assigned to a judge and case. About 60 of us crammed into the courtroom where we listened to instructions from the judge, heard the details of the murder case, and even saw the defendant. I found it all so fascinating and kind of wanted to stay.
But then the judge said this trial was expected to last until the end of July and I changed my mind. He split us into two groups. Those who had no requests to be dismissed were instructed to fill out a questionnaire and return to court on Monday morning. The rest of us had to write down our reasons for being dismissed on a piece of paper that the judge read out loud in front of everyone. After reading them, he would make the person stand and either dismiss them or make them fill out a questionnaire.
My reasons for dismissal were:
*I am an independent midwife and I'm planning to attend a birth that will occur within the next 7-10 days
*I am the primary caregiver to a two-year-old and I do not have full-time childcare
*I am getting married on July 13th (he asked us to list vacations or special events)
When it was my turn to stand, the judge said he understood it was not a good time for me to miss work and then asked whether I would like to come back in October, November, or December. I chose November and then I was dismissed.
Walking past the family court with the bulletproof glass is super scary and heartbreaking at the same time. The courthouse is a crazy place. It's really too bad you can't schedule jury duty for a time when you'll be available because I wouldn't mind serving.
But, a month long murder trial while working as a midwife and parenting a toddler ain't gonna work. Maybe I'll get another chance someday. It'd be nice to put my social science studies of race, class, and gender to use again.
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