Well, this may get interesting...

I finally got around to properly reading the Jury Summons that I received late last week. I had been treating it fairly casually, having been around this a few times before: call the night before and maybe get off the hook, otherwise report to Lowell in the morning, wait around, get some coffee, probably get sent home. The one time I actually got empanelled, the case was quick and fairly interesting.

Now I realize that this one's federal. It's a *three* week window in which I could be called up instead of one, and the trials tend to last a week or two. And instead of Lowell (which is finally fairly convenient to me for the first time), it's downtown at -- well, earlier than I am usually wont to be anywhere.

*Sigh*. I don't really have any reason to ask for a deferral, and it's possible that I could get another interesting case. (And I do think it's an important responsibility, so I'm disinclined to try to weasel out of it.) But this is going to make scheduling our deadlines a real pain, since my schedule is going to be so unpredictable...

Well, this may get interesting...

I finally got around to properly reading the Jury Summons that I received late last week. I had been treating it fairly casually, having been around this a few times before: call the night before and maybe get off the hook, otherwise report to Lowell in the morning, wait around, get some coffee, probably get sent home. The one time I actually got empanelled, the case was quick and fairly interesting.

Now I realize that this one's federal. It's a *three* week window in which I could be called up instead of one, and the trials tend to last a week or two. And instead of Lowell (which is finally fairly convenient to me for the first time), it's downtown at -- well, earlier than I am usually wont to be anywhere.

*Sigh*. I don't really have any reason to ask for a deferral, and it's possible that I could get another interesting case. (And I do think it's an important responsibility, so I'm disinclined to try to weasel out of it.) But this is going to make scheduling our deadlines a real pain, since my schedule is going to be so unpredictable...

Because there *have* to be a lot of questions, otherwise it wouldn't be a federal form!

So here I am, filling in the silly form to register as a federal juror, and I have to say I'm not impressed at their respect for my time. It asks for my county -- despite having my address printed at the top of the form. It asks me to fill in my age -- right next to the line that asks for my date of birth. (Which is, mind, after the question asking whether I am 18 years or age or older.) It asks me to fill in my ethnicity as one or more of the following little boxes -- and then has a separate question for whether I am Hispanic or Latino. It asks for my spouse's occupation -- nothing else about her, just her occupation.

You have to love forms by committee. I'd bet that every line on there has a name, a story, and a Senator attached to it if you trace it back. The result is an amusingly ridiculous mishmash of little elements that are each justifiable, but show little rhyme or reason...

Because there *have* to be a lot of questions, otherwise it wouldn't be a federal form!

So here I am, filling in the silly form to register as a federal juror, and I have to say I'm not impressed at their respect for my time. It asks for my county -- despite having my address printed at the top of the form. It asks me to fill in my age -- right next to the line that asks for my date of birth. (Which is, mind, after the question asking whether I am 18 years or age or older.) It asks me to fill in my ethnicity as one or more of the following little boxes -- and then has a separate question for whether I am Hispanic or Latino. It asks for my spouse's occupation -- nothing else about her, just her occupation.

You have to love forms by committee. I'd bet that every line on there has a name, a story, and a Senator attached to it if you trace it back. The result is an amusingly ridiculous mishmash of little elements that are each justifiable, but show little rhyme or reason...

And it just gets worse...

Having filled the form out, I just noticed the sheet *under* it, labeled "Important Revised Instructions for Completing the Juror Qualification Questionnaire". That carries things to a whole new level of comedy. Having searched around the office and finally found a number 2 pencil to fill in the form (as the form says in *its* Important Directions: "Use a No. 2 Pencil. Do not use ink or ballpoint."), the revised instructions state "You may fill out the questionnaire with a blue or black ink pen".

And of course, having been mandated to provide additional instructions for the questions, the bureaucrat in charge clearly took this quite literally to heart, with important clarifying instructions like, "QUESTION 11: Please fill in the appropriate circle. Advance to question 12."

I have to say, given all of this, I am particularly amused by their URL: mad.uscourts.gov...

And it just gets worse...

Having filled the form out, I just noticed the sheet *under* it, labeled "Important Revised Instructions for Completing the Juror Qualification Questionnaire". That carries things to a whole new level of comedy. Having searched around the office and finally found a number 2 pencil to fill in the form (as the form says in *its* Important Directions: "Use a No. 2 Pencil. Do not use ink or ballpoint."), the revised instructions state "You may fill out the questionnaire with a blue or black ink pen".

And of course, having been mandated to provide additional instructions for the questions, the bureaucrat in charge clearly took this quite literally to heart, with important clarifying instructions like, "QUESTION 11: Please fill in the appropriate circle. Advance to question 12."

I have to say, given all of this, I am particularly amused by their URL: mad.uscourts.gov...