Crime and punishment
I ended up losing virtually this entire week to jury duty. It was my first time sitting on a jury, and while I fretted the entire time about the mountain of work piling up on my desk back at the office, it was indeed a very interesting–if exhausting–experience. Alas, the case (a criminal one) ended with a guilty verdict by me and my peers, but it was a fairly heartbreaking decision, with both the defendant and some members of the jury in tears when it was over. I would say that the experience gave me more faith in the criminal justice system than I had to begin with, given how fair-minded and well intentioned our jury (which was exceedingly diverse, this being a large metropolitan area) was, and how well intentioned all participants in the case–the prosecutors, the defense attorney, the judge, and the police officers and firefighters and medical personnel who were witnesses–appeared to be.
I am reminded that our colleagues at Salem Press have a new title on this subject just out, and it’s received some good reviews recently. And now, about that mountain of work on my desk….