I just completed my second (and last) day of jury duty for 12 months. This is the first time I made it to the the point of actually being questioned by the attorneys and judge. Of the first 12, 3 had been dismissed and then my number was called. The young lady before me voiced her concern with finding the man guilty. She viewed any sort of imprisonment as cruel and unusual punishment (who can deny that?). When the judge pushed her on it and asked what she thought should be done if the man were found guilty, the juror replied with rehabilitation through therapy...you know, real help, rather than a punishment that really does nothing to help anyone. I think she has found her calling. And yes, this juror was dismissed. Then came my turn. I was asked to expand on my answer to, "Is our Criminal Justice system fair and effective?" My answer went to the back side of the paper and didn't get copied for the prosecutor. I opened with the fact that I have personally met a wrongly convicted man (20+ years gone), along with knowing a young lady who is currently serving someone else's time. (Wait, a sidebar. Someone at Wisdom 2.0 this past Saturday commented, "It's not my time anyway, it's somebody else's!") OK, back to my questioning. I spoke of how I doubted that many minorities would see our system as fair. I closed that question with, "We may have the best CJS in the world, but fair and effective are not two words I would use to describe it". Next came the question of what I thought a "fair" trial was. I began with, "It starts with honest lawyers, an honest judge, honest witnesses, honest police officers and an honest jury. Those things often don't come together in one trial." I also voiced my concern of judging another person. Although, I said I could judge evidence. Needless to say, I was released via a peremptory challenge by the prosecutor. Although I initially didn't want to be chosen, I will say, I was looking forward to working with 11 other people, examining evidence, having mature debates, trying to bring some fairness to our CJS. On the other hand, I am also feeling a bit relieved that I won't be party to sending a man to prison, even if he is guilty. I've been thinking more about this "fair" CJS of ours. How can this be fair when our society isn't even fair, yet? There must be a better way :(.