Jury Duty: don’t Judge a Book By Its Alleged Cover

I was summonsed to jury duty today. I have been called many times before, but never had to sit on a jury. So, when I was called to the impanelment process (see those words I used? “summonsing”! “impanelment!” I got to use them in sentences!) I was kind of excited. I have always been curious about the American judicial system, especially with the recent cases of Trayvon Martin and the like. A bunch of people from the jury pool were called; and we sat on benches. The judge came out and talked about what was about to happen, and motioned to the people involved in the trial. I looked at them and tried really hard not to be biased. Bias! That’s the problem! How do you get over first impressions?

There was a distinguished looking African American gentleman in a suit who looked like a younger, thinner James Earl Jones. Then there was this sleazy looking white guy with a greasy ponytail with shaved sides in that trying-too-hard-to-be-cool cut. It was topped off with an unsavory goatee. His appearance screamed “sketchy!” to me. I thought, how can James Earl Jones guy be defending this skuzzball?

Then the judge introduced everyone. The sleazy guy was actually the dapper gentleman’s lawyer. The dapper gentleman was being tried… for raping kids.

you can’t judge a book by its cover!