Civic duty... a different view of the world

Yesterday was jury duty day. So, I spent the day downtown doing my civic duty. This to some may seem like a burden, but to me, it is part of what makes this a great country, and I am honored to have the opportunity.

If you have never been through the process it is quite interesting. It has changed since the last time I served, and not only is it now in the new judicial center,  the court also picks all jury's for the week on Monday. As it turns out, if you are not selected by the end of the day then you have done your duty until you are summoned again.

I was going to write a long diatribe about the whole process, but decided it was going to be to boring. I am sure it would be more fun to tell you about the people watching and the yellow shoes, but I will save those for another day too.

I will however, tell you about the few things I learned.

I learned the term- Voir Dire. As explained by the judge who swore the group of us in, it means to speak the truth, and in lay terms, jurors are sworn to truthfully answer all questions that they are asked during the selection process. Trust me... there were some answers that had a whole lot more detail then the court probably needed!

I learned that without a reasonable doubt only applies to criminal cases, unlike a criminal case, preponderance of evidence is the standard of proof that must be meet in a civil case.

I learned that only 7 people are selected to sit on a jury unless it is a capital case, then they will select 12.

...and I learned that hypothetically you can have a criminal trial without a defense.

Because the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, the state must prove first that a crime has been committed and then prove that the defendant committed the crime...

The defense is there to create reasonable doubt...

Looking East on SR 64

...but most of all I learned that the city I live in looks a whole lot different from the 6th floor of the county judicial center. 

Looking across the Manatee River over the Post office

I spent a few minutes in the present and was in awe of how different our once small town looked.  It gave me a different perspective of Bradenton, if only for that moment.




...and as I looked around at the other people, who like me were waiting, some were texting, others talking on their phones, a few playing games... I wanted to scream...

HEY! look up, look out the window... look at the beautiful sky... did you know there are water towers out east... look out at the town we live in... look out at the world!

This morning as I sit here writing, I wonder, how many other people took the time to look out the window while they were waiting on the 6th floor...and how many people noticed the yellow shoes...

Life is simple... enjoy the journey!