Ordinary Beauty

In King County (Washington) Superior Court, here’s how it goes.

You arrive. They scan the bar code on your summons, give you a Juror Biographical Form, and point you to the clipboards on the wall. The double doors on your left open into a large, and on this day, very sunny and warm room full of chairs and a smattering of folks who arrived earlier than you. This trickle of arrivals goes on for quite awhile, well past the appointed 8:00 a.m. time that we are assigned to be here. It’s not about promptness, but that’s nice, because parking can be an adventure, so the best intentions can go awry.

The Juror Biographical Form is in triplicate NCR paper, and wants to know your name, age, how long you’ve lived in Washington, how long you have lived in King County, your number of years of education, where you were born, how many children of what gender and age, do you drive a car, have you been convicted of a crime, your occupation. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN PARTY TO A LAWSUIT? HAVE YOU EVER MADE A CLAIM FOR INJURIES? HAVE YOU EVER SERVED ON A JURY?

Actually, all the queries are in all caps. Do print firmly and clearly.

The top white sheet is the DEFENSE COPY, the yellow one is for the PROSECUTOR, and the pink page is COURT COPY.

Done with the form yet? Well, be still and patient. Not much is going to happen for awhile. But eventually, at least today, a Judge gives an inspiring speech (see previous blog post) and a prerecorded video goes on for awhile. Go ahead and read your book or flip through the newspaper or whatever during the video, as the room is full of people nonchalent about it. But, if you are unfamiliar with the court system, you really might want to attend to it, it will give you a bit of a sense of what is ahead in the courtroom.

So about now in, you might start visually meandering around the room, rather like how you might read the advertisement signs on the bus just because there’s nothing else to do. Don’t let the huge stack of paperback books on the windowsill frighten you, but you might want to take it as a sign of what is ahead. Of course you aren’t frightened by those stacks, because having read this missive, you know to bring your own reading material, something light and interruptable, and something more intense as well, since there will be moments to fill during which you have to pay attention to the upcoming announcements, and other long stretches when all you are doing is waiting.

Do plan on sitting and waiting. The amount of waiting is unpredictable. Plan accordingly. (ha ha, get it? plan for the unpredicatable! ha ha)

Oh. Bring your sense of humour and lightness with you. It might come in handy.