Jury Duty - NY Supreme Court - Live Blogging (sales, lawyers)

[zdg]

I posted a few weeks ago about getting jury duty in the Supreme Court building in Manhattan and was surprised how few people had experiences to share (my thanks to those who did).

Since I have literally nothing else to do while we wait to see if I get to return to work or not, I figured I'd post to a thread here that others can use in the future in case they get summoned.

8:20a - Got to the courthouse early. I was told that if I wanted to bring my laptop, I could because there was wifi. However, there are (by my count) only 12 seats in the entire room next to a plug. Amazingly, only half of them are in use. I figured there'd be fighting. Found my room and plugged in. Wifi is working, but slow. Fast enough to do emails and use the web for information (I wouldn't plan on doing videos).

8:45a - People start filing in. It's a room of 20 rows of 10 chairs. The chairs are surprisingly comfortable. Plush chairs with lots of cushion and arm rests. The two chairs on the outside of each row are up against a wall if you want to take a nap (some people are).

8:50a - A woman appears. She seems nice enough. What a thankless job. She explains what to do with the summons we got and to go up to the front to get a pencil and a bubble sheet to declare our race and birthdate.

9:00a - Ed Bradley! On the tv. In what must be the most star studded jury duty video in America, we get Ed Bradley and Diane Sawyer telling us what an honor it is to serve on a jury. We are forced to watch a high school presentation (video) of people being boiled to death in a forest in medieval times to prove guilt. I'm promised that if I wasn't here to serve on a jury, this is how we'd still do things. Considering I'm missing 2 days of work and am the only sales person for my business, I'm all for returning to the boiling-in-the-forest thing.

9:30a - Time to turn in the cards/summons. We line up in alphabetical-ish order and hand in the materials. Here's where they start to weed out the people who actually can't spell their own name or breathe without instructions. You'd be amazed how many people don't make it.

9:45a - We're told to chill. There are broken vending machines in the back that steal your money (I got a bottled water no problem out of one), payphones that haven't worked in years (she says), bathrooms (surprisingly clean) in the back corner, a room full of non-working laptops (she said half of them work at any time and you have a 20 minute limit), and the SignOut Sheet. You can sign out for 20 minutes at a time but if you miss more than one call to be a juror, your attendance for the day is wiped out.

10:00a - Finally, some real information. The same woman explains that we are here for 2 days, yes really. Lunch is usually from 1-2 but that they usually let you go at 12:30 and that, today, we get to leave earlier than that. If they need jurors, they come in and call us. If not, we sit here in silence and watch TV or read or whatever. Food and drink are allowed in. Cell phones are ok but only in (I swear she said this) "vibrator mode." So I guess that means vibrators are allowed also, as long as you only keep them in "phone" mode. Basically, if you get selected for a jury, you're here until the trial is over. If not, you get kicked back into the talent pool where I am and wait for them to call more juror-prospects. If you make it two days without being called, you get a Get Out of Jury Free card and get to return to Earth.

11:00a - Nothing has happened yet. Literally nothing. One full hour of sitting in a quiet room listening to people read and listen to music.

[Fred314X]

In spite of your high-minded intention of posting a thread that people can use if they get summoned for jury duty, you haven't actually provided any information. Or even insight into the process--which you aren't about to do, since you certainly aren't going to be allowed to post live when proceedings begin.

All you're doing is providing a running commentary of the waiting process. That's not much different from people on the subway who whip out their cell phones the moment a train comes aboveground just to report their whereabouts.

[zdg]

11:45a - Not one person has been called yet. I'm not saying no one has been chosen for a jury yet, I'm saying not one person has been called to even leave the room yet. This is quite a system we have here.

[WaltHowe]

Originally Posted by zdg

I posted a few weeks ago about getting jury duty in the Supreme Court building in Manhattan and was surprised how few people had experiences to share (my thanks to those who did).

Since I have literally nothing else to do while we wait to see if I get to return to work or not, I figured I'd post to a thread here that others can use in the future in case they get summoned.

8:20a - Got to the courthouse early. I was told that if I wanted to bring my laptop, I could because there was wifi. However, there are (by my count) only 12 seats in the entire room next to a plug. Amazingly, only half of them are in use. I figured there'd be fighting. Found my room and plugged in. Wifi is working, but slow. Fast enough to do emails and use the web for information (I wouldn't plan on doing videos).

8:45a - People start filing in. It's a room of 20 rows of 10 chairs. The chairs are surprisingly comfortable. Plush chairs with lots of cushion and arm rests. The two chairs on the outside of each row are up against a wall if you want to take a nap (some people are).

8:50a - A woman appears. She seems nice enough. What a thankless job. She explains what to do with the summons we got and to go up to the front to get a pencil and a bubble sheet to declare our race and birthdate.

9:00a - Ed Bradley! On the tv. In what must be the most star studded jury duty video in America, we get Ed Bradley and Diane Sawyer telling us what an honor it is to serve on a jury. We are forced to watch a high school presentation (video) of people being boiled to death in a forest in medieval times to prove guilt. I'm promised that if I wasn't here to serve on a jury, this is how we'd still do things. Considering I'm missing 2 days of work and am the only sales person for my business, I'm all for returning to the boiling-in-the-forest thing.

9:30a - Time to turn in the cards/summons. We line up in alphabetical-ish order and hand in the materials. Here's where they start to weed out the people who actually can't spell their own name or breathe without instructions. You'd be amazed how many people don't make it.

9:45a - We're told to chill. There are broken vending machines in the back that steal your money (I got a bottled water no problem out of one), payphones that haven't worked in years (she says), bathrooms (surprisingly clean) in the back corner, a room full of non-working laptops (she said half of them work at any time and you have a 20 minute limit), and the SignOut Sheet. You can sign out for 20 minutes at a time but if you miss more than one call to be a juror, your attendance for the day is wiped out.

10:00a - Finally, some real information. The same woman explains that we are here for 2 days, yes really. Lunch is usually from 1-2 but that they usually let you go at 12:30 and that, today, we get to leave earlier than that. If they need jurors, they come in and call us. If not, we sit here in silence and watch TV or read or whatever. Food and drink are allowed in. Cell phones are ok but only in (I swear she said this) "vibrator mode." So I guess that means vibrators are allowed also, as long as you only keep them in "phone" mode. Basically, if you get selected for a jury, you're here until the trial is over. If not, you get kicked back into the talent pool where I am and wait for them to call more juror-prospects. If you make it two days without being called, you get a Get Out of Jury Free card and get to return to Earth.

11:00a - Nothing has happened yet. Literally nothing. One full hour of sitting in a quiet room listening to people read and listen to music.

Just like the one in Brooklyn.

[UpsonDowns]

I read and participated in that thread and I think plenty of good advice was given.

You spend a day or two in holding, you get called to voir dire, you say something that makes one of the lawyers disqualify you - done. It isn't astrophysics.

[zdg]

2:50p and still not one human has been called. Is it always like this? There MUST be a better way in 2011 to do this.

[WaltHowe]

Originally Posted by zdg

2:50p and still not one human has been called. Is it always like this? There MUST be a better way in 2011 to do this.

Does that have something to do with a lot of judges and lawyers being off for Passover?

[UpsonDowns]

No one knows when jurors will be needed. Lawyers work on deals until the last minute. The jury pool isn't for a specific case, you are there in case a trial comes together. Think of it as being a civic firefighter.

[modsquad81]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

In spite of your high-minded intention of posting a thread that people can use if they get summoned for jury duty, you haven't actually provided any information. Or even insight into the process--which you aren't about to do, since you certainly aren't going to be allowed to post live when proceedings begin.

Wow that was harsh.

[Cida]

Sorry, but to me, this illustrated the pointlessness of most blogging/tweeting. Whether you're like me and know what it's like, or haven't done it yet so don't are, the microscopic details of a stranger's life aren't interesting. I'm sure there are some gifted humorists who could make it entertaining, like say, Robert Benchley, but ordinary mortals can't.

If you truly have nothing else to do, which is true of most people there, bring something to read. I used to be a big hit, because I'd bring a stack of magazines and discard them for other people when I was done.