Two Weeks of Happy Civic Duty

I got my summons in July and was devastated that I was to appear the first week of the semester. Serve my civic duty as a juror or align my entire semester up right with my students-- what a quandary! Luckily, I called the Jury Commissioner's office and was able to postpone my jury duty in the Franklin County Municipal Court until December.

The following post will commemorate my worthwhile experience.

On the first day I took the bus into downtown to save a few bucks on parking. When I arrived at 8am, apparently I was a little eager. After two hours of enjoying the high-octane coffee, the Jury Commissioner waited until 10am to give us the rundown of the next two weeks which included free parking in the garage. My eagerness mixed with geeking out on civic responsibility made for quite an exciting day.

The Jury Commission Room

 The next two weeks did not disappoint. Even though I was not selected for a jury, I learned so much! Tom, the Jury Commissioner, had speakers lined up to come talk with us. There were tours of the Ohio Supreme Court and the Statehouse. We were invited to observe the courtrooms in session.

The seven seats of the Ohio Supreme Court.

Decorations in the Law Library.

View of COSI and the Scioto River from the top floor of the Supreme Court.

The Ohio Statehouse

Floor plan of the buildings we toured.

George Washington Williams,
the first black Ohio Legislator. 

Thank you to 100 years of women Suffragettes!

Statehouse Rotunda

Black draping ready for John Glenn's body to arrive. 

For Lake Erie, thank Oliver Hazard Perry.

House of Representatives

Beautiful Christmas tree at the Statehouse
in the spot where Lincoln gave a speech prior
to his presidency. 

These tours were great but with December comes the chance of bad weather. 

Snow-covered 9th floor view.

One block away, there were noon Advent services each Wednesday followed by a luncheon. What a way for me to spend the lunch break.

Trinity Evangelical Church

Luckily, most of our time we were warmly visited by judges and other courthouse officials in the Jury Commission Room. We often know very little about judges but I can confidently say that Judge Green, Judge O'Grady, Judge Hawkins, Judge Morehart, Judge Barrows, Recorder Brown and Clerk of Courts Tyack are more than names on ballot for me now. I learned that some of these civil servants are grateful for the purpose God has given them. They even came to our last day's pizza party. 

All this was a great experience that I will never forget.  

We were well taken care of and respected for our duty.  

We were able to share some life stories, share some faith stories, share some business stories, 

and make some friends along the way. 

Somebody took this juror out to a dinner
with a view of the city.