Politics never cease to amuse me. As most people probably know, we are coming up on another election season in America. In Florida, Jeb Bush is term limited and is not running for Governor again. This has led to a spirited primary for both parties which will conclude in a couple of weeks. The Republican primary is pretty much decided already. Charlie Crist (notice the picture of Jeb Bush at the very top of the page...he's running as the "I'll continue Jeb's legacy" candidate) is probably going to beat Tom Gallagher (also notice the picture of Jeb Bush ast the top of the page...Republicans in Florida LOVE Jeb.). This is the fourth time Gallagher has run for Governor. I wonder if he will ever give up?
The closer race is in the Democratic primary. U.S. Rep. Jim Davis is running against State Senator Rod Smith (not the football player). Since the race is close, they are campaigning hard and running LOTS of commercials. The latest commercials each of them are running strike me as ironic and amusing (even though both commercials are pretty anti-Republican). Neither commercial really attacks the other candidate, rather each attacks a "Republican" policy. The first commercial I saw was Smith's (the state senator) and was about stem cell research. Then today, I saw a commercial from Davis (the U.S. Rep.) about a Florida hurricane insurance bill. The state guy is running an ad about a federal issue and the federal guy is running an ad about a state issue. I may be the only one, but I find that humorous.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Civic Duty
Early this summer, I received a lovely piece of mail: a jury summons. At the time, I was busy taking a class and studying for the bar exam...in Gainesville. I was NOT going to drive to Miami just to sit around all day while there were more important things to do. So I sent the jury people a nice letter explaining my situation and aksed them to postpone my service until August.
When I finally heard back from them, I was no longer "on call" (you call in each night to see if you are needed the next day). Since I had postponed my duty, they put me in the very first group which meant I had to be there bright and early (8:00 A.M.) Monday morning. Miami being what it is, I had to leave at 7:00 just to be on time.
When I arrived, there were TV monitors showing a video on the history of the Dade County courthouse. The video, which was intersting, ended by talking about the turkey vultures that camp out on top of the downtown building and how they like to hit targets other than the sidewalk. Lovely image, huh.
Aroud 9:00, a way too cheerful lady began giving instructions about the day and explained that if you are unemployed, you get paid. $15! About 10:00, they called the first panel (40 people) and I was lucky enough to be on it. We went out in the hall with the bailiff who organized us and gave us numbers (I was lucky #7) and took our jury questionaires. After standing around for about half an hour, we were taken down to the hall outside the courtroom...and waited.
I was not happy about being on jury duty. I was hoping that I would get dismissed early because I am a law student. But the cheerful lady informed us first thing in the morning that we would be there all day even if we were not selected from a panel. They would "recycle" us. But by this point, I was starting to look forward to getting in the courtroom and was actually glad to be part of the process. Jury duty is a big part of our democratic system and I am glad to get to do my part.
So, finally, about noon, the bailiff comes outside and said the judge was going to let us go get lunch and to be back about 1:30. I got something to eat and got back up to the courtroom about 1:10. I had a book and did not even notice time passing. At about 1:40, another bailiff (not the one we were originally assigned to) came out and asked those of us waiting if were were part of Judge X's panel. He counted and there were only 13 of us back. New bailiff sent us back to the jury pool room and said we would get further instructions. Of course, the bailiff and the 13 of us were wondering where the rest of the panel was. When I got back to the jury pool, a bunch of the other people from the panel where already in the room. They said they had been sent back by the original bailiff.
I was back 20 minutes early. I never say the original bailiff. I don't understand how you send a group of people to lunch, tell them to come back at a certain time, come to the meeting place at least 20 minutes early, tell those already back to leave, and then not come back at the appointed time to send the rest of the people back. Doesn't seem very logical to me.
About 30 minutes after returning to the jury pool, my entire panel was called out of the room. We were told that, numerically, we were no longer needed and were free to go. The catch was, there were still judges that had juries to pick, so we would forfeit our $15. I thought about for a couple of minutes. $15 was not worth sitting around for another 2+ hours.
I left pleased with the opportunity to serve. It is a civic duty. But as with anything else in our government, I don't know if the actual administration of the process should make me laugh or cry. Bureaucracy can make anything painful. I'll let you know what I think if I end up serving again. I found out that jury duty is an "annual obligation." Oh boy! I can't wait for my next summons!
When I finally heard back from them, I was no longer "on call" (you call in each night to see if you are needed the next day). Since I had postponed my duty, they put me in the very first group which meant I had to be there bright and early (8:00 A.M.) Monday morning. Miami being what it is, I had to leave at 7:00 just to be on time.
When I arrived, there were TV monitors showing a video on the history of the Dade County courthouse. The video, which was intersting, ended by talking about the turkey vultures that camp out on top of the downtown building and how they like to hit targets other than the sidewalk. Lovely image, huh.
Aroud 9:00, a way too cheerful lady began giving instructions about the day and explained that if you are unemployed, you get paid. $15! About 10:00, they called the first panel (40 people) and I was lucky enough to be on it. We went out in the hall with the bailiff who organized us and gave us numbers (I was lucky #7) and took our jury questionaires. After standing around for about half an hour, we were taken down to the hall outside the courtroom...and waited.
I was not happy about being on jury duty. I was hoping that I would get dismissed early because I am a law student. But the cheerful lady informed us first thing in the morning that we would be there all day even if we were not selected from a panel. They would "recycle" us. But by this point, I was starting to look forward to getting in the courtroom and was actually glad to be part of the process. Jury duty is a big part of our democratic system and I am glad to get to do my part.
So, finally, about noon, the bailiff comes outside and said the judge was going to let us go get lunch and to be back about 1:30. I got something to eat and got back up to the courtroom about 1:10. I had a book and did not even notice time passing. At about 1:40, another bailiff (not the one we were originally assigned to) came out and asked those of us waiting if were were part of Judge X's panel. He counted and there were only 13 of us back. New bailiff sent us back to the jury pool room and said we would get further instructions. Of course, the bailiff and the 13 of us were wondering where the rest of the panel was. When I got back to the jury pool, a bunch of the other people from the panel where already in the room. They said they had been sent back by the original bailiff.
I was back 20 minutes early. I never say the original bailiff. I don't understand how you send a group of people to lunch, tell them to come back at a certain time, come to the meeting place at least 20 minutes early, tell those already back to leave, and then not come back at the appointed time to send the rest of the people back. Doesn't seem very logical to me.
About 30 minutes after returning to the jury pool, my entire panel was called out of the room. We were told that, numerically, we were no longer needed and were free to go. The catch was, there were still judges that had juries to pick, so we would forfeit our $15. I thought about for a couple of minutes. $15 was not worth sitting around for another 2+ hours.
I left pleased with the opportunity to serve. It is a civic duty. But as with anything else in our government, I don't know if the actual administration of the process should make me laugh or cry. Bureaucracy can make anything painful. I'll let you know what I think if I end up serving again. I found out that jury duty is an "annual obligation." Oh boy! I can't wait for my next summons!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Welcome Home
I'm home. We drove down from Gainesville on Sunday. In a bit of irony, the drive back from Gainesville was much like the drive up to Gainesville last year. On the way up last year, our drive was drastically slowed down by really heavy rainstorms between Orlando and Gainesville. This past Sunday, we were slowed down by rainstorms that we weren't able to leave behind until we got south of Orlando. And the traffic was really heavy as a result. But I am home now, safe and sound. Of course, the apartment is a wreck with all of my stuff.
Speaking of weather, I come home and what happens. A tropical storm forms and is taking direct aim at South Florida. When I went to bed on Monday night, the weatherman said there was a system with the potential to become a tropical storm, but it was expected to be a loosely organized low pressure system for several days. So of course, by yesterday after noon, Chris had formed and is expected to be a hurricane sometime today or tomorrow and could hit South Florida sometime Sunday. We are going to Nashville for the weekend for my brother-in-law's wedding. We are supposed to come back on Sunday. Julie is supposed to open school on Monday. If the storm is still headed for South Florida on Sunday, it is doubtful we will get back to Miami on Sunday. Julie really does not want to miss the first day of school. But if the storm is bad, or late, there won't be school on Monday. What a way to start the school year.
Weclome back to Miami. Should be a fun year.
Speaking of weather, I come home and what happens. A tropical storm forms and is taking direct aim at South Florida. When I went to bed on Monday night, the weatherman said there was a system with the potential to become a tropical storm, but it was expected to be a loosely organized low pressure system for several days. So of course, by yesterday after noon, Chris had formed and is expected to be a hurricane sometime today or tomorrow and could hit South Florida sometime Sunday. We are going to Nashville for the weekend for my brother-in-law's wedding. We are supposed to come back on Sunday. Julie is supposed to open school on Monday. If the storm is still headed for South Florida on Sunday, it is doubtful we will get back to Miami on Sunday. Julie really does not want to miss the first day of school. But if the storm is bad, or late, there won't be school on Monday. What a way to start the school year.
Weclome back to Miami. Should be a fun year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)