About a month back I got the dreaded jury summons in my mail box at home. As a citizen, I recognize jury duty for what it is. A civic duty that allows me to participate in government balanced by the inconvenience of being pulled out of work. As a lawyer, I recognize jury duty for what it is, an exercise in futility. I rest quite certain that I will not be selected to sit on on an actual jury. I made a conscience decision I would go into jury duty with a positive attitude. After all, it's something everybody has to do and since I am going to spend a week or so with about eighty of my fellow Cherokee County residents, I am going to make it a pleasant experience.
When I arrived, the room was packed. I have been trying cases to Cherokee County juries for eighteen years but I never really had an idea of just how many are called for jury duty on a Superior Court trial week. The Jury Assembly Room is full, but I managed to get a seat on the back row. Most everybody has brought a laptop computer and is trying to get as much work done as they possibly can while being away from work. Still more are getting to know their neighbors that are while others are just settled in with good old fashioned paperback.
Patti Baker, out Clerk of Court, gave us an orientation for the week and Judge Jackson Harris was gave his welcoming remarks and swore us in. I am on panel four. With WiFi service, coffee, vending machines and such, the folks at the Clerk's office have done a great job making this a comfortable experience. We watched the State Bar of Georgia Jury service video. I saw this before at Board of Governors meetings, but message take on a new significance as I sit here waiting to be called to a court room. It's lunch time and I still have yet to make it to a courtroom.
