Uneventful...

Let's face it, some weeks just are. This past one was not. I sat on the jury for a four day long murder trial. My impressions? Oh, all right, if you insist:
Artists and other self-employed persons who show up for civic duty and are honest during questioning and selection, only to be picked for service that is of indeterminate length, NEED to be afforded more than $25 a day for that service, especially if it goes in excess of 10 hours each day. $2.50 an hour might have been all right for an 18 unwed mother working the night shift at Denny's back in 1992, but it doesn't hardly buy a gallon of gas these days (not to mention at Denny's you get tips).
Police work, though likely routine at best in 9 out of 10 cases (or where the victim's name does not begin with, say, 'Senator' or 'Ambassador'), is reduced to shoddy and/or haphazard when it comes to black on black crimes (but I'm not telling you anything new with that).
Although I'm sure there are merits to our criminal justice system, I fail to see how someone can be tried and convicted of murder, and yet have sat around in prison long enough before the case even came before the court that by the time the sentence is handed down, they have less than one year to go before the option for parole, and at most, just over two more years to serve. I suppose in the future, the trials will be so far behind the crimes that inmates will actually be sentenced for less time than they have served, and end up being given some sort of stipend for the lost time. Or perhaps they will bring a case against the state. I could dream of being on a jury that tries the state for such an infringement, but I would never make it through the jury selection questions of bias. Still, if wielded properly, honesty can be a deadlier weapon than a handgun, and I'm packin'.