My Civic Duty

Remember my earlier excited posts about getting out of jury duty? Well, they have come back to bite me on the ass in every sense. I should never have been so cocky.

Last week, I got a letter from the Federal court in Harrisonburg saying I had yet again been summoned for a trial. So, on Monday, I headed to court, fully expecting to be able to be dismissed on the grounds of being married to Deputy Dog. Imagine my surprise when I was chosen from the jury pool to serve on the jury for this case. And I just gave away what our verdict was.

So, my thoughts on serving on a jury? Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of interesting, although my back is paying for it now. The worst part is having to sit for so long. I'm not a sitter. In fact, I'm pretty much adult ADD, and sitting still for long periods of time is equivalent to Chinese water torture to me. I plan to take my jury winnings (I believe I made the princely sum of $30/day) and get a massage.

The funny part about the whole thing? Most everyone I've talked to seemed surprised that we reached a not guilty verdict. I guess most people really do give more weight to the testimony of government officials and law enforcement over defendants.