Better to do jury duty than own time behind bars

Ah, jury duty. A chance to observe and participate in the preservation of our society’s social order. An opportunity to do our part in seeing that justice is served. Our civic duty, indeed.

Not everyone sees it that way, though. Many people dread jury duty. They might understand why Grant Faber walked away from court during the lunch break. The judge sure didn’t, though.

According to The Oregonian, when police in Hillsboro, Ore., arrested Grant Faver (left) this month, he said he’d left when he “just couldn’t take it anymore” because he was “extremely bored.”

Circuit Judge Gayle Nachtigal, who’d issued the warrant for Faver’s arrest, said the maximum penalty for missing jury duty is six months in jail. Usually, however, penalties are waived if the person will agree to show up for jury duty.

In Texas, dodging jury duty goes on your permanent record. A man pulled over for speeding in McKinney on Feb. 15 spent 83 days in jail without a hearing after police noticed an outstanding warrant for his failure to appear for jury duty in 2003.

Douglas Maupin wrote a letter to The Dallas Morning News from his cell this month. He told a reporter that his family and friends didn’t have $1,500 to bail him out. A jail clerk had refused to let him call a public defender.

I’ve never served on a jury. Either the prosecution or defense always rejects me. (Once a defense attorney laughed at how emphatic the prosecutor was about getting rid of me.) But when the city sends one of its white-and-green summons I always show up with a book and hope that a movie I haven’t seen will play in the waiting room. (Once it was Oceans 11. Seemed appropriate.)

For eight hours you meet people while waiting to be called. In the courtroom you hear interesting stories. Jurors usually serve only a day or two. How bad can that be?