November 25, 2007

Jury Duty - Tag I’m It

I often thought how cool it would be to serve on a high-profile jury someday. I was selected for jury duty several years ago when I lived in Dallas but only once was I able to show up at the courthouse. I sat outside the courtroom, was never called in, and then dismissed. Maybe they figured I would be too opinionated! I traveled extensively for my job back then so I was usually excused.

I’ve been called to service once again. This time the process is different. My term started in early November, and I am supposed to be available through the end of the year. Each week I call a phone number and they tell me whether or not I am to report the following week. So far my panel has not been called for service. It would be an interesting learning experience if I am called. However, when you are running your own business (and have two young kids) it is pretty hard to drop everything to serve on a jury when you tend to be one of the big reasons things keep going in the early days. I think you can ask to be excused if you are called on a day that would dramatically interfere with your business. I’ll find out if that’s the case if I end up facing that situation.

I wonder if they will one day hold virtual trials with virtual jurors who have their virtual world avatars?

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