For Those Who Get Called, A Primer on Jury Duty

Having spent my day in the Fairfax County Court Potential Juror Holding Cell, I thought I’d put together a quick post on the ins and outs of jury duty should you ever get called up. I served on a jury in Alexandria a few years ago, but the trial for which I was selected was cancelled. Weather had prevented the detective from making a flight out of Florida, so we were released.

Today was slightly less exciting. So let me offer some tips…

1) Be prepared to be bored. The vast majority of the people that were there never got picked for a jury, so you’ll spend a lot of time sitting around.

2) Check to see if the court where you will sere has wi-fi. Had I known they did, I would have taken my laptop and been working all morning rather than annoying my Twitter friends. (Ok, I would have done that, too, but you get my point.

3) If they don’t have wi-fi, bring your iPod. Like I said, you’re more than likely to not see an actual jury box, so you’ll need entertainment.

Honestly, that’s about the best advice I can give you. The number of potential jurors compared to the number of actual jurors is fairly great. You’re less likely to end up a juror than you are to come down with malaria. Rather than preparing for the jury, prepare for the sitting.

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