JMG News: So I Did Not Get Selected For Jury Duty

After spending all day today being shuttled around the New York County courthouse in downtown Manhattan in increasingly smaller groups, I was unexpectedly dismissed as a potential juror at the end of the day.

I say unexpectedly, because I was sure I’d be selected after watching dozens be dismissed for a variety of reasons both legitimate and supremely annoying.

Early in the morning, roughly half of those summoned lined up to present their cases for one-time-only postponements due to pressing work issues or travel plans, which is fine, because they’ll all be back in six months.

In the afternoon session, once we were told that the trial would likely go as long as ten calendar days starting tomorrow, many of those remaining decided that was too long for them and that’s when the annoying pleadings about their important busy lives began.

Nobody went all Liz “I can’t serve because I’m a hologram” Lemon, but some of those folks got some well-deserved sharp words from the judge.

In the end, I was among the group of 15 who survived voir dire, after which we were sent into the hallway while the assistant DA, defense lawyer, and judge conferred.

Upon our return, mine was not among the names called to serve. I’m not saying that it was this here website thingy that did me in during the voir dire portion about our jobs, but it was probably this here website thingy.

I should note that I found all aspects of today’s experience to be very well organized. The court employees were all pleasant – friendly, even – and the jury assembly room had desks with power outlets and a strong WiFi signal for folks who needed to do some work.

As those of us who were dismissed at the very end rode down in the elevator together, I joked, “I feel a little bit insulted.” The woman next to me said, “Sweetheart, this kind of rejection I can take.”