HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE

THE MISERIES OF JURY DUTY

Jury duty has become a plague in Fresno County. I've gotten four summons in just eight years. The last three times I got excused without having to report to the courthouse. Not this time, though.

Among the things I hate is the downtown location of the courthouse. Parking can be a nightmare. The court has free parking across from the baseball park, but if you're unfamiliar with downtown it can be a problem finding the parking lot.

Then you ride a packed shuttle to the courthouse and go into the Jury Assembly Room. You turn in one of the forms they sent you with the summons and they call roll. Then they come back with the dreaded announcement that you've been assigned to a courtroom.

You go through a metal detector. You have to empty your pockets and even take off your belt and watch. If the machine beeps, you have to go back through the process.

The elevators are packed and slower than a garden snail.

You go into the courtroom, which has absolutely no windows, and they call roll again.

The judge comes in and reads the charges against the accused. The the first eighteen names are called for people to report to jury box. They are handed a green sheet questionnaire.

The judge asks if the prospective jurors know the attorneys, witnesses, or the defendant. He asks if there are any religious or philosophical reasons someone couldn't serve on a jury. He asks about hardship jury duty would impose.

Then the defense attorney and the prosecutor start asking questions of the prospective jurors. They are looking for biases that might make an impartial verdict impossible. After that, they have challenges to people they think would be biased and they excuse those people.

You go through this process repeatedly until a jury and six alternate jurors get selected.

I would be in favor of a professional jury system. Everything else about the criminal and civil justice system is done by professionals. Judges are professionals, attorneys are professionals, and the law enforcement personnel are professionals. The biggest issue would be keeping professional jurors from becoming too chummy with judges and attorneys and becoming biased. But anyone who thinks the current system isn't already stacked against poor defendants is kidding himself.

I wrote our esteemed governor about my issues with coercive jury duty months ago and never got a reply. I also left a phone message and never got a reply, which shows what politicians think of ordinary constituents. We're just there to provide bodies to this process so they can create the illusion that justice is being served.