Why jury duty is so miserable | Stossel – Red Bluff Daily News

Why jury duty is so miserable | Stossel  Red Bluff Daily News

They act as if wasting our time is free. It's not. I shouldn’t get so angry. It isn’t healthy. Last week, New York state summoned me to jury duty. I went, of course. It’s the law, and my duty. A jury may protect the innocent from government abuse. Ordinary citizens, not officials, decide if you are guilty. But doing our patriotic duty shouldn’t mean surrendering hours of our lives to bureaucratic indifference. Serving justice is important. Sitting around doing nothing isn’t. During my 50 years consumer reporting, I’ve watched greedy capitalists constantly make improvements and find better ways to do things. They use computers, adjust hours, reduce wait times… If they don’t, we consumers quickly switch to competitors who will.

But government bureaucracies — courts, the DMV, the passport office — have no competitors. So they don’t try very hard. Most businesses now communicate with customers instantly, by text or email. Airlines send boarding passes to our phones. Doctors text reminders. Restaurants send notifications when our table is ready. We summoned jurors meekly arrive at the courthouse and wait. And wait. I’m old; it’s important I hydrate. At least government provides a water cooler and a drinking fountain. Oh, damn, neither works. Eventually, a bored clerk drones through long instructions on how to fill out a form. Printed instructions would