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Ahhh! We need tips for NY jury duty now. I have to go in August ;-(

i did jury duty in brooklyn in april... 3 day civil slip 'n' fall case. kinda enjoyed it. yes, bring plenty of reading material and your sense of humor for all the lovable kooks we have in the BK. great people-watching too, and seeing so many different kinds of folks only reinforced why i loved this city so much :) serving justice wasn't half bad either ;)

the last time I had jury duty in DC, there was a tape stuck in the VCR, we so watched a video on the mating habits of the Madagascar tree frog on an endless loop for 6 hours! They wouldn't even allow us to turn off the TVs- the whole thing was surreal. That was May 1995 though, so I can only hope things have improved since then...

I think the 'interesting' end tables were intended to have magazines straddling each 'spoke' if you will. An example of an idea that may be good, but if not properly communicated, it gets completely missed.

Haha, I had jury duty for three weeks so I'm not too fond of those benches. They weren't very comfortable for long waiting periods. But I LOVED being downtown. Other lunch options include Little Tokyo, Disney Concert Hall (which has a 20% discount if you show your juror badge), and thefarmers' market if you're there on a Thursday.

Ooh, thanks for these tips. I love that they let you bring a laptop, that's a nice way to get through all the wait time.

I served on a jury in LA (Compton, actually). Everyone complains, but I actually enjoyed it and thought it was really interesting, especially the deliberations after the trial. It wasn't a long trial, though.

I brought a book along, but I ended up talking to other potential jurors.

I just had jury duty last week; I have had it consistently for the last 8 years. It is to the point where I can pretty much mark the calendar the week that the next summons will arrive. I've never been put on the jury, though (soil erosion and personal injury cases, so I've not missed out on anything juicy).

The only place worse than the courthouse is the DMV. Boring, boring, boring.

Tips for making jury duty more pleasant...bring a small thin pillow to sit on in case you're stuck on a hard bench; snacks and lunch help since you'll have to pay big bucks on the outside; lots of magazines, newspapers, ipod, knitting, journal, etc...

CQ
That story just made mine and my coworker's day!

I once got a summons to do jury duty... I filled out the questionnaire with CRAYON and hinted at being biased.

I never bothered to go and never got another summons ever since. ;)

The pic of that chair has nothing on the Big Chair in DC! ;)

Pete, great suggestions for getting out of doing your civic duty. Heaven forbid anyone well-educated and literate sit on a jury when we can fake our way out of it.

Every time I've been called for jury duty, they've taken away my cell phone. Quelle horreur! So if you were thinking of web surfing on your smart phone, you may be out of luck. However, I don't live in L.A. There may be laws forbidding anyone from parting an LA resident with her cell phone, for all I know.

Everyone, just please, serve, with an open mind. It's a hassle and a bore and a terribly flawed system, but it is so so important - like sometimes life-and-death important.

I wouldn't mind serving except that the last time I was called I had a fever of 102 and was PRAYING they wouldn't need me. I got lucky and they didn't need anyone to show up that day. It might be interesting, though.

And yeah, Mjoe, you're absolutely right. I think it's the waiting, though, that really annoys people.

On Wednesday, I served at the Criminal Courthouse on Temple Street. Even though my laptop has wireless, I couldn't get online with any of their networks (typically security-enabled). They had some computers with pay internet access ($5 per hour, $12 per day, I believe), but I ended up getting some non-online work done and reading a magazine. I also caught up on some e-mail and thank-you notes I had been meaning to write. I wish I had brought my iPod, though, since there are several podcasts I would have liked to catch up on.

As far as good eats go, the Criminal Courthouse is about a 15-minute walk to Chinatown. I walked to Philippe's for a French dip, then took the DASH back to court (the laptop was getting a bit heavy by that point). Afterwards, I met a friend for sushi dinner in Little Tokyo. YUM!

While I would have rather not been there at all, I didn't think it was so bad--got some work done, relaxed a bit, and had some good eats. I felt kind of bad for the folks who sat around bored all day--I can't believe that people didn't bring books, magazines, or something. It's pretty easy to make the most of jury duty with about 10 minutes of planning and thinking through things the night before.

Next time I get called for jury duty I'm bringing my travel scrabble game.

Devyn, when I see that table and then your idea, I think the ideal usage may just be too lofty for human nature, especially in that setting.

When I was summoned, #1, food on the inside was very expensive. It amounted to some kind of "cart" that was a permanent fixture. This is downtown Boston, by the way, the John Adams Courthouse, I think it's called. I kind of recall we weren't allowed to leave unless dismissed for lunch or otherwise. Once you are past the metal detectors, you are in.

The big room where we sat most of the morning was rows and rows of folding chairs. I recommend getting in early and taking a seat in the front row or else you will be trapped and not get to stretch your legs. I brought reading material but was very fidgety.

When brought to the assignment, I remember a lot of wood, the walls were ensconced in paneling. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I remember. A lot of us, maybe 50 or 60 or more, were grouped in the court, hearing the story of the case and being weeded out for conflicts of every sort. Those benches sucked! I'm not sure how antique this particular room was, but probably. This was more than a year ago, so that's all I remember. I'm sure it's full of historical mystique, but I couldn't wait to get out, nor can remember many details of the decor.

The last time I had jury duty, I worked on sewing the binding on a quilt I was making. That was several years ago, though, and I wonder if they would let you through security with needles these days. I've gotten through airport security with needles and scissors (recently), but those security people pretty much have unlimited discretion, so I wouldn't count on being able to do needlework or knit while you're waiting. Bring a book just in case!

Oh, and I would like to make a pitch for not trying to get out of jury duty unless you have to. It's very, very important to have a variety of people on juries and it's also a very interesting process if you go into it with an open mind. I've been called several times and sat on two juries and I learned a lot about the legal system.

If you're a juror, you get free entrance to MOCA.

Eat at the CalTrans cafeteria, and marvel at the building.

Shop Disney Hall's gift shop and take the tour.

Check out Anzan hardware in Little Tokyo or the Japanese-American museum.

There's a farmer's market on Fridays by City Hall.

And you're miles from Koreatown. You'd never make it in the time alloted.

i don't mind having to go for jury duty at all. i feel it's a privilege just like voting. i've only ever had to go once in my life so far. it was a great learning experience even though i was only there for a week. waiting around was no big deal and i rarely use my cellphone so i didn't care about that. i made some friends among the jurors and when i had no buddies to talk to or feel like reading, i just drew in my sketchbook.

about three months ago i got called for jury duty again, however they let me off because i had already moved to a different county. but if i called again for my current area, i wouldn't try to get out of it. it's just another opportunity to do something possibly good somehow.