blogger profile

Alamb

Author/Television Reporter

Amanda Lamb is a professional television journalist and author. She covers murder trials by day and reads Dora the Explorer to her children at night. Somewhere in between all of that she writes about those parenting moments that catch each us off-guard in a crazy, chaotic, and wonderful way. Aman...

READ MORE

Civic Duty

Amanda Lamb

I have jury duty today.  This answers my question, yes lightning does strike twice, you can get picked for jury twice.  This is my second stint in about six years.  I know plenty of people who have never been called.  So why me?  I guess my number is simply up, again.

It is not that I don’t think I should have to comply with the law.  Everyone should.  It is just that when I sit there in the jury waiting room or the courtroom waiting to go through the process I think about everything else I could be doing.  Somehow as long as I keep moving I don’t think about all of my obligations.  But make me sit and wait, and the lists start swirling in my head.

You can get out of jury duty if you have a child care issue, an employer who won’t pay you for missed work (and you can prove this is a true hardship) or if you know someone involved in the case and as a result have already formed an opinion.  I’m guessing none of these will apply directly to me.   Although, I am a crime reporter and will most likely know the judge and attorneys involved, but this doesn’t immediately preclude me from anything unless I say that I am not able to be objective. 

So I will go, and I will sit and wait, just like everyone else.  And I will make lists, and sub-lists.  I will think about writing I need to finish, birthday party invitations I need to respond to, Christmas presents I need to buy and more.  Nothing will get done except the lists themselves, and at the end of the day I hope and pray I will hear those magic words:  “You are free to to go.”  Until the next time lightning strikes that is...