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Jury Duty Minutiae
I survived jury duty today at the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn.
I was assigned juror #129 of...wait for it...129 people! Whee!
It was incredibly boring.
This is always an exercise in futility for me, because even if I get to the latter stages of the process, I never get impaneled, thanks to my long tenure with one of the major law firms in New England. Which is fine with me, but makes it an incredibly wasted day. But I try to soak in the details and feel virtuous for doing my civic duty.
They do allow laptops now, but I decided not to lug mine out there. I passed the time by reading. I made it through TV Guide, the Sunday comics, Parade Magazine and The Boston Globe magazine! I also passed time keeping track of what went on when, looking for possible lessons for next time. Don't click unless you have a morbid fascination for the minutiae of jury service in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...home of the "one day or one trial" system.
7:20 am Left home, drove up Rte 93, down 128, to Woburn
7:50 am Arrived at the Court House (a big suburban office building)
and went through security, up to 3rd floor "Assembly Room"
8:03 am Checked in, handed in my paper, was issued a white card with #129 and sat in the big room, read the TV Guide, mostly about the demise of "Law and Order" *sniff*
8:30 am Court officer does his stand up routine, shows 17 minute video *zzzzzz*
9:05 am 3-minute pep talk from "a real judge"
9:10 am - 9:55 am Free time while they process our paperwork
Looked at the "computer room" which looks like closet they converted so they can say there is table space and wifi for computer users. Just looking in the door gave me claustrophobia, before about 27 people tried to camp out in there. Will bring laptop next time, and stay in the Assembly Room with it on my lap.
I went for a walk in the lovely sunshine, found the three shops in the next building over - Dunkin Donuts, convenience store and cafe. Pondered buying a big breakfast....got a muffin and V-8. Ate outside. Went back through security.
10:05 am Jurors 1-111 are sent upstairs to room 630 for a criminal trial. They said you're allowed to take and drink bottled water in court, but don't take any open food or try to eat in the court rooms. All electronics OFF!
About 10 of us stay behind. I finished TV Guide, Sunday's comics, Parade Magazine. Various jurors filter back in as they are excused from the criminal proceeding.
11 am I ate a fiber bar. Had wanted to be done by now. Officially bored. Read The Globe Magazine.
11:30 am Officially bored and unhappy. Out of reading material. Decide to try the Globe crossword puzzle. Actually got a few clues!
11:40 am
Jurors 1-129 called to the Assembly Room. Taken upstairs to Civil trial in room 430. It's a little unnerving as we enter - all the court officers, lawyers, clients and the judge are staring at us. We sit on hard wooden benches at the back, about 60 of us there.
Judge Diane Kottmeyer presiding. She describes the case. Plaintiffs were victims of a car crash suing the driver of another car for negligence. Defendant says she's not negligent, and anyway, she was at work as a public employee and can't be sued. Jury will figure out if she was acting as a public employee and then if she was negligent.
The judge introduces 4 lawyers and three clients. Then she asks the jurors questions. You raise your number
if the answer is yes, and two court officers read off the numbers. Do you know any of the lawyers? or clients? Have you read about this case? Have you formed an opinion? Do you work for any of the places involved or know anyone who does? Do you work for any public agency? The trial will take 4 days - is that a hardship?
All this is both fascinating and tedious at the same time. I keep doing the puzzle, keeping track of how close they're getting to my number.
12:10 pm
The court clerk begins to call jurors forward one at a time to either sit in the jury box or chat with the judge. I counted 16 people who were excused, either after talking to the judge, or after being seated and then removed. I am guessing the lawyers found something on the juror's questionnaire and challenged them. They seated 14 people - 12 will be the jurors, 2 are alternates. The last person seated in the jury box is #118. I start to wonder when lunch will be.
12:55 pm The judge tells those of us remaining in the back (about a dozen people) to follow the court officer into the hall. He thanks us and tells us we're done! Hooray!
1:30 pm HOME!
So I am off the hook for three years.
Remember for next time.
- Take your laptop! It will make it way less boring.
- Take reading materials also, for when they make you turn stuff off.
- Charge your phone the night before.
- Take LOTS of bottled water. And cough drops. The place is very dry inside.
- Take snacks. No food there other than odd pricy vending machines or 3 shops 1 building over.
- Woburn is not bad other than being 13 miles away - easy to find, right off the hwy, free parking, modern
- Moving your date to a Friday makes the traffic lighter, but still leave 2x more time than Google says
- Yes, they make you get there at 8 am when they won't call anyone until 10 am. That's just the way it is.
- Smile at the court officers and say thank you. It will surprise and delight them.
I was assigned juror #129 of...wait for it...129 people! Whee!
It was incredibly boring.
This is always an exercise in futility for me, because even if I get to the latter stages of the process, I never get impaneled, thanks to my long tenure with one of the major law firms in New England. Which is fine with me, but makes it an incredibly wasted day. But I try to soak in the details and feel virtuous for doing my civic duty.
They do allow laptops now, but I decided not to lug mine out there. I passed the time by reading. I made it through TV Guide, the Sunday comics, Parade Magazine and The Boston Globe magazine! I also passed time keeping track of what went on when, looking for possible lessons for next time. Don't click unless you have a morbid fascination for the minutiae of jury service in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...home of the "one day or one trial" system.
7:20 am Left home, drove up Rte 93, down 128, to Woburn
7:50 am Arrived at the Court House (a big suburban office building)
and went through security, up to 3rd floor "Assembly Room"
8:03 am Checked in, handed in my paper, was issued a white card with #129 and sat in the big room, read the TV Guide, mostly about the demise of "Law and Order" *sniff*
8:30 am Court officer does his stand up routine, shows 17 minute video *zzzzzz*
9:05 am 3-minute pep talk from "a real judge"
9:10 am - 9:55 am Free time while they process our paperwork
Looked at the "computer room" which looks like closet they converted so they can say there is table space and wifi for computer users. Just looking in the door gave me claustrophobia, before about 27 people tried to camp out in there. Will bring laptop next time, and stay in the Assembly Room with it on my lap.
I went for a walk in the lovely sunshine, found the three shops in the next building over - Dunkin Donuts, convenience store and cafe. Pondered buying a big breakfast....got a muffin and V-8. Ate outside. Went back through security.
10:05 am Jurors 1-111 are sent upstairs to room 630 for a criminal trial. They said you're allowed to take and drink bottled water in court, but don't take any open food or try to eat in the court rooms. All electronics OFF!
About 10 of us stay behind. I finished TV Guide, Sunday's comics, Parade Magazine. Various jurors filter back in as they are excused from the criminal proceeding.
11 am I ate a fiber bar. Had wanted to be done by now. Officially bored. Read The Globe Magazine.
11:30 am Officially bored and unhappy. Out of reading material. Decide to try the Globe crossword puzzle. Actually got a few clues!
11:40 am
Jurors 1-129 called to the Assembly Room. Taken upstairs to Civil trial in room 430. It's a little unnerving as we enter - all the court officers, lawyers, clients and the judge are staring at us. We sit on hard wooden benches at the back, about 60 of us there.
Judge Diane Kottmeyer presiding. She describes the case. Plaintiffs were victims of a car crash suing the driver of another car for negligence. Defendant says she's not negligent, and anyway, she was at work as a public employee and can't be sued. Jury will figure out if she was acting as a public employee and then if she was negligent.
The judge introduces 4 lawyers and three clients. Then she asks the jurors questions. You raise your number
if the answer is yes, and two court officers read off the numbers. Do you know any of the lawyers? or clients? Have you read about this case? Have you formed an opinion? Do you work for any of the places involved or know anyone who does? Do you work for any public agency? The trial will take 4 days - is that a hardship?
All this is both fascinating and tedious at the same time. I keep doing the puzzle, keeping track of how close they're getting to my number.
12:10 pm
The court clerk begins to call jurors forward one at a time to either sit in the jury box or chat with the judge. I counted 16 people who were excused, either after talking to the judge, or after being seated and then removed. I am guessing the lawyers found something on the juror's questionnaire and challenged them. They seated 14 people - 12 will be the jurors, 2 are alternates. The last person seated in the jury box is #118. I start to wonder when lunch will be.
12:55 pm The judge tells those of us remaining in the back (about a dozen people) to follow the court officer into the hall. He thanks us and tells us we're done! Hooray!
1:30 pm HOME!
So I am off the hook for three years.
Remember for next time.
- Take your laptop! It will make it way less boring.
- Take reading materials also, for when they make you turn stuff off.
- Charge your phone the night before.
- Take LOTS of bottled water. And cough drops. The place is very dry inside.
- Take snacks. No food there other than odd pricy vending machines or 3 shops 1 building over.
- Woburn is not bad other than being 13 miles away - easy to find, right off the hwy, free parking, modern
- Moving your date to a Friday makes the traffic lighter, but still leave 2x more time than Google says
- Yes, they make you get there at 8 am when they won't call anyone until 10 am. That's just the way it is.
- Smile at the court officers and say thank you. It will surprise and delight them.