Except that I was juror number 10 at that point, having just moved into the box from being juror number 22 as the final jury was being selected. The prosecutor decided to use one of his peremptory challenges to kick me out right at that point. They don’t have to tell you why, they just get to boot people they don’t think will be good for their case. So, I spent two days on jury duty instead of the five weeks I might have served.
I had sort of mixed feelings – glad to be out of the committment, yet also a little disgruntled at not getting to know what about me had made the prosecutor reject me as a juror. Was it a gut feeling, something I said, something I did, being a 40-something female, a smile at the wrong time, not laughing at his jokes, not opening up enough that he had a good feeling about me? I’ll never know. And it was an interesting case, and I was enjoying watching the psychological battle of wits and the sly attempts at persuasion before the case was even presented.
Ah well. So I’ve spent most of the afternoon pouring over info about voir dire and all the little tricks involved. I know it isn’t personal — I’m just curious. At one point in my life I thought I might be a lawyer, when I was in around eighth grade. In high school my views turned pretty liberal and I didn’t want much to do with law. Then last week, my shrink was suggesting I go to law school. I just sort of grinned inwardly, and shrugged it off. Today, I was starting to feel at home in the courthouse, thinking I could have been there, potentially, as a participant if not for the feelings in my life that changed as a teen. And then, to be so summarily dismissed from that world. It’s a strange feeling. Like an alternate life, I might have lived, if not for…
Well, a lot of things.
5 Responses
stay far away from that dream of being a lawyer. I have some friend s in that biz, and its not about justice, it just about the money.
I feel so badly as my friends are so trapped by a job which they know is destroying them and they cant leave now, becuase… yes you guessed it, becuase its just about the salary as they have debts and responsibilties.
So I am watching them get crushed from both sides of the cash game.
*sigh*
With all due respect to Casey– If you want to give it a try, give it a try. We pretty much only regret the things we DON’T do! Even if it IS about the money. Hey, nothing wrong with money… especially if you want to retire sooner rather than later. And it CAN be about justice… as long as you know the “rules of the game.”
Love the cartoons you’ve posted… and comments.
I’ll be back.
yes I agree do chase dreams, painter woman is right.
yet I had to pass on the warning as it is a dangerous path also. And it in theory it can be about justice, but at what cost? is my point.
Well, like I said, there were a lot of reasons for me not to become a lawyer. I think it would be a difficult path for me. As a defense lawyer, I would find it hard to defend those I didn’t fully believe were innocent, and as a prosecutor, I would find it hard to prosecute those I didn’t fully believe were guilty. And in a civil case, you have to represent those who are suing others or being sued by others, and well, it’s just messy. Patent law or wills or whatever would just bore me.
I like many aspects of the law and the lawyer’s profession, but other aspects of it really turn me off. I have the same problem with being a doctor or psychiatrist – the patients I couldn’t help would really bother me. And, as I have learned, you can’t save everyone. I have family I have just had to give up on saving from themselves, and it is difficult for me.
Money isn’t terribly important to me, either. My dream right now seems to focus around the idea of raising service dogs, having a whole ranch full of golden retrievers and getting them into great homes to be helper and service dogs and companion dogs. I love goldens and can really see myself doing this. So that is the focus for now. I do need to get enough money together to get the space to be able to do this – my little house and yard aren’t big enough – but, I’m working on it!
I agree with Painter Woman also. Moreover, I know some lawyers for whom it is ALL about justice (including, you know — ME). 🙂 The reason you defend people you know to be guilty is because you’re not just defending them — you’re defending our system of justice. You require the prosecutor to prove them guilty, for the police to do their jobs correctly, etc. If we didn’t have vigorous defense, it would become too easy for the system to get out of hand, for rights to be too easily trampled. And, most often, with people you know to be guilty, they are either convicted despite your defense, or you convince them to save the state some money by accepting a plea bargain so that it never even goes to trial. There are many aspects of the law besides the few mentioned (criminal, patent, wills, corporate). In the end, though, raising servcie dogs sounds like a much better profession! 🙂