I am the people

     As you know, yesterday I was off for jury duty. I had mixed feelings, and after the experience, I sort of still do.
     I was, in fact, selected to sit on the jury. Since it was a District Court case, there were only six people on the jury.
     The selection process took a couple of hours, and then the trial began. We listened to the opening statement of the prosecution and the testimony from one witness, and then we had a 90-minute lunch break. (I went home, since I live so close to the courthouse.)
     Then we returned, listened to the next witness for the prosecution, after which the defense presented its opening argument and called the defendant to the stand.
     Then both sides shared their closing statements, and we headed in for deliberation.
     We had clear instructions and we talked about everything, but in the end, we had a hung jury.
     After 6 p.m., we were finally excused, and now the prosecution has to decide if it will try the case again or not.
     I was kind of disappointed that it did not end in a specific verdict. And, surprisingly, I was exhausted at the end of the day.
     I loved Judge Edwards. He was kind, fair, intelligent and funny. He told all the prospective jurors at the beginning of the day all about the history of jury trials, and since I am a history buff, I found this all fascinating.
     But, he really stressed the importance of our civic duty and the right for people to be tried by their peers.
     He used part of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to remind us of the process, and how it's of the people, by the people, for the people. (That's a lot of prepositions!)
     He also shared the famous Shakespeare quotation from Henry VI : "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers". - (Act IV, Scene II).
     What I really liked is that he actually explained the quotation and how it was not intended to be the big joke that people have taken it as. That if you actually read the play (which I did in college), then you know that it's about the idea that in order to kill LAW one would have to kill all the lawyers. In order to bring about anarchy, you would have to do away with all those that uphold the law.
     Overall, it was a good experience, I just wish we would've had a unianimous verdict.