That’s right. Yours truly is in one. For my international readers, a Grand Jury, here in the States, isn’t the Jury that presides over a trial of someone accused of a crime. Rather, it is a Jury that listens to a summary of the Prosecution’s case and decides if there’s enough prosecutorial evidence to warrant a trial. And they do this over and over. And over. And over. And over again. For a whole lot of cases each in a day. It’s fair to say that the Grand Jury is giving a “Pass/No-Pass” grade to way more cases each day than real juries are capable of resolving each day.
Anyway, that’s where I was, yesterday (and why there wasn’t much replying to comments from me during that period of time). Obviously, for legal reasons, I can’t say much else about it.
It’s the first time I’ve ever even been called in to face Jury Duty, and obviously my first time being selected for service. So, I’ll be spending about one day a week for the next good many weeks trapped in a room with 20-ish other strangers learning about all the unseemly parts of my community. It’s like a holiday, only without the joy and cheer!
On the “I’ve been driven mad with power!” side of things, Grand Juries also get to investigate whatever they want to investigate in their county government; and their investigations are published. Of course… that’s like work…
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In completely unrelated news… I’m filling in again over on Serial Central with an Election-themed shorty. Check it, read it, and enjoy it.
The Undiscovered Author 
Is this the part of the crazy week that you were hinting at earlier?
If you can believe it, actually, no. I’ve known about the impending Jury Duty for almost a month. The other development happened suddenly, and only by chance coincided in timing with the Jury Duty. (The other event, as a “hint”, was a surprise change in the details and circumstances of my employment – not in whether I’m employed (I am) but more in the realm of by whom I am employed….)
I’ve gone through one of those before if I understand your hint. I hope yours is a little less “exciting” than mine was (mine wasn’t exciting in a good way… however, it didn’t change my employment… just some people overreacted).
I was a bit nervous – well, outright worried – at first. But so far things have been going swimmingly. Busy as all get out, but swimmingly.
I have to admit that I have not yet been on a jury. I was called right after my brain surgery, but I was still recovering and there was no hint as to whether this was going to be a short case or a long one–and at that time I still needed to sleep from 3-5 in the afternoon. Not so good if you’re on a jury–I understand they work at that time.
So good for you for doing your civic duty.
There’s a lot going on in life, right now, and it’s inconvenient, but I figured there’s never going to be a convenient time. One thing’s for sure, I’m learning a lot about how the judicial process works and about local governance.
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