The Jury Selection


I lost a bit of faith in humanity during jury selection. People will take extraordinary steps to get out of jury duty. I would be happy to serve, if the case was about a cyclist getting hit by a car. Or some other minor crime that wouldn't take too long. But I ended up in the pool for what I imagine the Hannibal Lecter trial would look like. Don't get me wrong, I did not want to be selected, just like almost everyone else in the room. But I wasn't willing to stoop to the level of lying or pretending to be racist to get out of it. Of all the cards you could play, racial prejudice is the worst. If the guy who did it is racist, then I suppose it's good he said something, but if he's not, he is now. Since everything is transcribed, it's now part of the public record that this guy can't get over his racial bias. And if he was lying to get out of it, it's still part of the public record. In the end most of us weren't selected, and it was pretty awkward for the racist back in the jury waiting room. Everyone staring at him. But in the end it was nice to have a common enemy.

No comments:

Post a Comment