![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Magistrate Court jury duty
Monday, October 16th, 2023 02:51 amThe courthouse my recent Jury Duty was at doesn't allow people to bring any bags or purses inside. When I got in line to enter the building, someone else told me they weren't going to let me inside with that, pointing to the purse. I was almost incredulous; that's something they should let people know in advance! I then saw a sign indicating the same thing. So I grudgingly walked back to my car to swap things around. It wasn't that bad for me, but I could imagine it being very inconvenient for anyone else who may have worn something without pockets, and who might have needed to bring tampons and feminine napkins, etc. Luckily my pants have pockets and I already normally carry my keys on my belt. I didn't want to have to carry my book in my hand, so I left it in the car. I also left both pairs of glasses in the car (which I'd brought just in case) as I didn't have a cord for carrying them around my neck.
We had to show up at the courthouse from Monday through Thursday at 9am. There were two trials that week, both traffic related. I was not chosen for the juries. We were dismissed between 10:30am and noon each day.
There was a different judge each day. When one of them was asking jurors who met various criteria to stand, I heard her address a couple of them as "the young lady". I figured those jurors must look fairly young. Then she got to the part where she asked anyone 65 years or older to stand up. She addressed those two women as "the young lady" too, and I realized that she was calling everyone either a "young lady" or a "gentleman". Thinking about it, maybe she felt addressing people as only "the lady" would sound rude.
The court room had speakers out of which occasionally static noise would play. I realized it was to help cover up potentially private conversations the judges were having with jurors who had come up to speak to them. The static noise didn't turn on very consistently though.
There was a bookshelf in the jury assembly room, with books and magazines. It still had a sign on it saying not touch the items on the bookshelf due to COVID restrictions. I'm pretty sure the sign still being there was an oversight, but I didn't feel like pointing it out to the people in charge. Nor did I want to disobey the sign, so I didn't touch any of the books.
There was a side room accessible via a door. The room had a sink and a vending machine with only a few items in it, none of which looked vegan except possibly the apple turnovers. There must have been more machines with more options in the past: On the 3rd day, the clerk brought water bottles into the assembly room to hand out. She apologized to the group of us, saying she hadn't realized the vending machines had been removed from that room!
We had to show up at the courthouse from Monday through Thursday at 9am. There were two trials that week, both traffic related. I was not chosen for the juries. We were dismissed between 10:30am and noon each day.
There was a different judge each day. When one of them was asking jurors who met various criteria to stand, I heard her address a couple of them as "the young lady". I figured those jurors must look fairly young. Then she got to the part where she asked anyone 65 years or older to stand up. She addressed those two women as "the young lady" too, and I realized that she was calling everyone either a "young lady" or a "gentleman". Thinking about it, maybe she felt addressing people as only "the lady" would sound rude.
The court room had speakers out of which occasionally static noise would play. I realized it was to help cover up potentially private conversations the judges were having with jurors who had come up to speak to them. The static noise didn't turn on very consistently though.
There was a bookshelf in the jury assembly room, with books and magazines. It still had a sign on it saying not touch the items on the bookshelf due to COVID restrictions. I'm pretty sure the sign still being there was an oversight, but I didn't feel like pointing it out to the people in charge. Nor did I want to disobey the sign, so I didn't touch any of the books.
There was a side room accessible via a door. The room had a sink and a vending machine with only a few items in it, none of which looked vegan except possibly the apple turnovers. There must have been more machines with more options in the past: On the 3rd day, the clerk brought water bottles into the assembly room to hand out. She apologized to the group of us, saying she hadn't realized the vending machines had been removed from that room!