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11/02/2006: "JuryBlog"

I spent the day yesterday doing my part for civic obedience by serving as a juror for the Los Angeles Superior Court system. To keep myself from going crazy and to pass at least some of the time, I kept a running log of the day's events on my PDA ...


7:20 - Glad I got an early start - traffic is horrid on 110. How do people do this every day?

7:50 - Good news: parking is free. Bad news: the lot is a mile from the courthouse!

8:15 - Found the jury room on the 11th floor. Even the folks who run it comment on the large number of jurors today - not a good sign ...

8:35 - Jury room is spartan - no TV, a few old magazines and books (among the choices: Oprah Magazine & Good Housekeeping Cookbook). SRO - every seat is taken. It's worse than the middle seat on a cross-country flight - at least there, you can stare out the windows ...

9:20 - Spent last half-hour going over jury instructions in excruciating detail. If we don't get assigned to a court, we'll be here until at least 4PM - ouch! I need a break - think I'll see if the snack bar on 13 (yes, they have a 13th floor) has newspapers (Update - they do!).

9:35 - Big pastime for jurors (particularly the 20-somethings) is text messaging. Just realized my new phone won't TM - not like there was anyone for me to send it to ...

10:00 - If you assume this is really a representative cross-section of Los Angeles County, a couple of things come to mind. First, the idea that there is a white majority in LA is a myth. Looking around the room, I'd guess Caucasians make up about a third. Lots of hispanics - probably half. Remainder black or oriential. Only 10 percent of the jurors dress like professionals (and I'm counting myself in this bunch), but 25% have Crackberries. Common thread - we all bore quickly.

10:20 - Still no calls for juries - yawn ...

11:00 - It's clear the AC in this room wasn't designed for this many bodies. Temp up, humidity up.

11:20 - First panel call of day ... damn - they get to go to lunch now!

11:25 - Boy, I'd like to catch the bastard at Palm who decided Grafitti 2 was a better input language than the original Grafitti. I'm wearing my hand out, and half of it gets read wrong!

11:40 - Here comes panel #2 ... missed again. No long lunch for me.

12:00 - Released for lunch. I don't want to hike back my car, so I think I'll just wander around downtown. Maybe I can find some real live winos ...

12:15 - Living in the South Bay and not being much of a culture lover, I've never spent any time downtown. Pretty cool seeing all the sights - Disney Hall, the new Cathedral, Music Center, Mark Taper Forum. I feel like a tourist in my own town ...

12:35 - Don't bother looking for a "Push to Walk" button in Downtown LA. It's clear that the cars rule the roost. You walk when the system says to, and you'd better do it quickly. Where was the only "walk" button I saw? - the crosswalk at the front door to City Hall.

1:00 - Back in the Jury room. Man, do my dogs hurt!

1:30 - The afternoon session starts. 3 hrs to go - do I feel lucky?

1:50 - It really is amazing to see how patient my fellow jurors are. We'd all rather be somewhere else, but everyone accepts their fate with quiet grace. Why can't they do the same thing with traffic jams?

2:05 - Pool #3 - no love once again.

2:30 - We're in Hour 7 here at JuryWatch. You'd like to think that by this time, they'd have any jurors they'd need. The fear now is that I'll get called for a jury that doesn't report until tomorrow ...

2:55 - Here's a thought ... take the pittance we get paid for jury duty and instead put it towards better conditions for jurors. Better seats,a couple of big screens, and a wireless hot spot would be a start. Then go for snacks & drinks, and maybe a choice of movies. Hell, this is LA - how 'bout using the captive audience for preview screenings of all those TV pilots that never make it on the air anyway.

3:10 - Here comes another panel. This one'll get me ... missed again!

3:55 - Jury call. You gotta be kidding - they're pulling jurors for a 30-day trial - and they know I have unlimited jury coverage at Boeing ...

3:56 - Psyche! It's the release call - I'm outta here!


A very long day of sitting on my ass and watching others head off to courtrooms. I guess I can't complain, because today I'm going back to work while all those who got called are going back to court. The new "1 day, 1 trial" system is certainly better than the old "2 week" method, but they really have got to do something to make it better for the jurors who are waiting ...