This week was my week to have jury duty. Of course it comes at the busiest time of the year, when I have to apply for financial aid from the department, apply for a grant, do student recruitment, finish a paper, etc.
On Monday, I was a potential juror for a civil case. The events that led to the case made a lot of headlines a few years ago. Essentially a mobile home park was sold to a developer for building apartments for students. The trailers were sold to the residents; however, city ordinances prevented the trailers from being moved. (They were too old.) The residents got screwed to some degree (how severe depended on whom you asked). The question before the court was whether the (former?) owners of the park were liable for any monetary damage the residents may have received.
The case is locally important because it is at the center of a debate over the developing of our town. On one side are developers like my father, and on the other are Greens like a few professors and community activists I know. Between my family connection, my prior knowledge of the case, and my wife being in law school, I tried my best to give them reasons why I shouldn’t be selected to the jury. I even said that I studied evolution, in case there were any creationist lawyers. Whatever I said worked, and I was passed over for serving on the jury. That was Monday.
On Tuesday, we were excused from duty. On Wednesday we were supposed to report to court at 9:00AM. However, at 8:00AM I got a call telling me to report to court at 1:00PM. Another jury was being selected for a case involving a young African American man, who was charged with obstruction and battery. From the questions being asked, the defense was going to argue that the officers made a mistake and confused a bystander with someone involved in the fight. They also appeared to be planning to argue that the officers used derogatory language. Four letter words were going to be a major part of the case. Sounded like a he-said, he-said case. I apparently answered the questions correctly and wasn’t selected again today. No more court cases this week so I am free.
I got to talk with a few other jurors. One was a grad student in psychology who is interested in evolutionary psychology, to the disagreement of his department. He had a lot of questions to ask of me, specifically about the evolutionary biology resources on campus and my research. Another juror, who used to be an editor with the local paper, asked me if I used to write letters. I responded that I had one in the paper over the weekend. She said that the letters that they get a steady stream of letters against evolution and for a Christian America, and would only publish them where there were relevant to something in the news. She wondered if such people could ever write something different or original. She thanked me for my letters, which she said were well written.
Over all it was an interesting time, I made $50, and can count on not having jury duty for the next six months. In fact I got to catch up with my college roommate (nephew of one judge) and a girl I dated in high school (daughter of the other).
