Improving Jury Service

Last week I posted about serving on a Jury.  While I had been called to jury duty numerous times it was my first time to actually serve on a jury.  With a few exceptions the overall experience was very positive.  It was great seeing strangers come together to determine if an accused is guilty or not-guilty.  We all had other things to do but we all stepped up and did our duty as citizens.

But, as with everything, there is always room for improvement.  The post caught the attention of Matt Murphy who commented they were looking for volunteers to offer suggestions for improvement to the process.  I emailed him back and he sent me the following to post here:

Each year more than 5,000 city residents serve on a jury in Circuit Court.  While it is true that many consider it an inconvenience, it is also true that jury duty is the cornerstone of our judicial system and it is one of the most important duties a citizen can perform for his/her country.

St. Louis Circuit Court is looking for some former jurors to volunteer their time to meet with Court officials and provide feedback on the jury duty experience (when and where will depend on the availability of the group.)

After listening to the group, the Court will use those ideas and suggestions to find areas for improvement – making the jury duty process as efficient and convenient as possible for all city residents.

If you are interested in being a part of this jury advisory group, please contact the Court’s public information officer, Matt Murphy at 622-5685 or by email at:  mmurphy@courts.mo.gov

I’ve already told him I’d volunteer but I wanted to get the ball rolling online so here are my initial thoughts.

As mentioned in my prior post, Wi-Fi in the jury assembly room is a must.  This would allow business persons (or anyone) to bring their laptop and continue working until called to be on a panel.  On a previous time I spent two days there but was never called.  The third morning we were released.

Having an area with computer tables with outlets goes hand in hand with working on the internet. Trying to use a laptop in the middle of a row of theater type seats is far from ideal.  Access to outlets is important for longer periods.

While Wi-Fi would improve the waiting process, eliminating the wait is even better.  My oldest brother lives in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay area where they have a far better system (see website).  The county is large both in terms of geography and population (nearly 1.5 million persons).  They have six courthouses where jurors may be called to serve.

But when you receive a summons to serve you can log into a website to respond or request a different date. So you need not wait until you have time during the week to call to explain that you have a business trip that week – you can do so at 3am on a Sunday morning if that works best for your schedule.   From this site you can also see when to report on the week you are to serve:

Instructions for Summoned Jurors

• Read the summons: The address, date and time of your appearance is written on the summons you were mailed. You may request to reschedule your jury service to a more convenient time by logging on to our E-juror website at https://ejuror.alameda.courts.ca.gov/. This website will also allow you to excuse yourself with limited conditions. No postponements or excuses will be granted on your day of appearance.
• Inform your employer: Your employer must allow you time off for jury duty. Employers cannot discharge an employee called for jury service as long as the employee gives reasonable notice of the summons.
• Call to receive reporting time.  Your summons will have instructions directing you when to start calling to find out if you must report on your first day.
• Your day in court: Plan to attend court as a juror all day from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The time you are released will depend on the court’s schedule. Please dress appropriately. Shorts, tank tops or bare feet are not permissible.

So my brother and sister-in-law can check in with the court to see when they are to report.  If it is Tuesday 10am then they can go to work on Monday and sleep in a bit on Tuesday.  This system is web or phone based so it should work for everyone.  Waiting is done at home, not in the court building.

This reduces the massive crowds of people all showing up at the same time.  It also reduces the need for parking as jurors dates are shifted based on need.  Perhaps courts in other parts of the country have an even better process but this is the slickest I’ve ever heard of.

So share your ideas below for Matt Murphy and others at the court to read.  If you can, email him about volunteering on a citizen committee to suggest improvements.  They have opened the door for suggestions so now it is up to us to tell them what we want.

Join Me for a Screening of The Accidental Advocate

Join me at 7pm Wednesday at the Tivoli Theater for a special screening of The Accidental Advocate:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shhpHf9prf0[/youtube]

Tickets are $10.50.  This looks to be a touching perspective on the political hot potato of embryonic stem cell research.

A Dead End For New Cul-De-Sac Development?

Despite growing up in a suburban 1960s subdivision, I have never lived on a cul-de-sac street. Nor will I ever.  Our block was close — it had a modified cul-de-sac but rather than being a dead end our street looped around to the same street or origin.  The next street to the west did this to.

Later streets in the subdivision (70s/80s) did have more traditional dead end cul-de-sacs. To get through the subdivision you had to know how the streets curved, which connected and which looped back.

Overall I’d say I had a pretty normal childhood.  A happy one too!I had a natural curiosity about different areas.  Our family doctor lived in one of the oldest sections of town and his office was near an old shopping district.

As a kid everything I could reach by bike was the same stuff – sprawl.  But once I had my driver’s license I explored the older areas of Oklahoma City – stuff from the teens & 20s.  Ah, not cul-de-sacs in sight!

The most well known cul-de-sac in popular culture would be the one from the long running TV series, Knots Landing (1979-1993).  Even the Brandy Bunch and Partridge Family lived on through streets. I hope the days of the cul-de-sac street pattern are behind us for good.  That includes taking formerly through streets and closing them at one end.

What Might a City “Comprehensive Plan” look like in 2009?

Shelves in cities all across North America are covered with thick “comprehensive plans.”  A good many of those were produced by the St Louis firm, Harland Bartholomew & Associates.  Founded in 1919, HBA produced such comprehensive plans for hundreds of cities.

St Louis is so enamored with our own 1947 plan that we’ve not bothered to take a city-wide view in the 60+ yeas since it was adopted.

This coming Saturday I’ll be starting my final elective course at Saint Louis University toward my Master of Arts in Urban Planning & Real Estate Development.  The Course is called simply, Comprehensive Planning.  The course instructor will be Malcolm “Mick” Drummond.  Drummond started working at HBA in 1954.  Mr. Drummond is a fascinating fellow to talk to, I expect to learn a great deal about the thought process that guided a generation.

I’ve spent hours in the basement at the Washington University archives in the former Clayton Famous-Barr reviewing many of these comprehensive plans developed by the firm over the decades – primarily 40s-60s.

They plans are often quite similar — adopt Eulidian zoning, have a major streets plan, a parks & schools plan, and projections of future population.  Even cities that had zoning in place it was aften considered to be “incomplete” in that it didn’t limit heights of buildings or some of the other rules of the day.

I see the 21st Century Comprehensive Plan having similarities to those from 60-80 years ago.  The scope would be comprehensive in nature – housing, schools, transportation, recreation, etc.  Today’s major streets plan would be about widening sidewalks and applying principals of “complete streets”  Looking at zoning we’d evaluate where the zoning code conflicts with creating arttractive walkable environments through, for example, excessive parking mandates.  Schools might look be about evaluating student populations against existing structures.  Determining if existing structures are to be retained as future schools or sold for adaptive uses such as housing.  Transportation would look at all modes within the plan city as well as modes in/out.

With hindsight we know now that many planning decisions reached in the mid-20th Century were destructive and unfortunate.  Our challenge moving forward in our cities is figuring out what to keep and what to toss aside from these early decades of planning.  I hope to spend the balance of my life helping cities figure this out.

Neighbor vs. Neighbor

This past week I was called for jury duty.  For the first time in my 18+ years in St. Louis I was selected to serve on a jury. Besides voting, jury service is an important civic duty.

The case we heard was one of neighbor vs. neighbor.  Specifically, two neighbors across the hall in the same South city apartment building.  It was a criminal case — one claimed the other flourished a weapon after an argument.  A gun belonging to the defendant was found in his apartment but ultimately we didn’t think the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt it was flourished at his accuser.

Living in close proximity to others will mean neighbors will have disputes.  Even out in sprawling suburbia neighbors can have disputes – say one parking his SUV in front of another’s McMansion.  Those of us that chose to live in muti-family housing must work extra hard at being good neighbors.  We have shared walls, floors, ceilings, and halls.  It is this relationship — seeing my neighbors in the hall — that has repeatedly drawn me toward multi-family living.  However, those with loud voices or a taste for loud music should avoid multi-family living.  Please!

Jury selection is a process of waiting.  I wish they had wi-fi so some of us could continue working while waiting.  After the trial I suggested as much to the judge.  Our judge, Phillip D. Heagney, was great.  He ensured that myself and the visually impaired juror were accomodated.  She had her service dog and I avoided the upstairs jury room except during deliberations.  You could tell he wanted all parties in the case to be treated fairly. I’ll certainly be voting to retain him as a judge in 2010 when his term expires.

Overall the jury experience was very positive.  It didn’t start that way.  I arrive with hundreds of others before 8am on Monday.  We were there before they started scanning and admitting visitors.  I asked if they had any seating — a 10 minute wait for me is like you standing for an hour.  I leaned against the stone surround near the conveyor belt for the screening.  A guard told me not to sit on the belt.  I explained I was mearly leaning against the stone edge around the belt.  He wasn’t pleased but he let it go.  When they started screening visitors I was first in that line.  But he told me to put my cane on the belt.  When I started to question getting through the sensor he said, “Don’t be difficult.”  Difficult?  Try walking in my shoes sometime!  I put the cane on the belt and held onto the side of the desk to get through the scanner.  I can walk a bit now without using the cane but that is typically in places I am familiar and not where I have to walk over anything.  Difficult?  Did he think the cane was just a fashion statement?

Everyone else from jury assembly to the courtroom were great.  Future trips through security they scanned the cane and handed it back to me, wanding me once I made it through.

During jury selection many on our panel were clearly trying to get themselves eliminated.  They succeded too.  Roughly 18 people in front of me were eliminated.  I probably could have my condition to get out of service but I didn’t mind doing my duty.  The judge promised those of us on the jury that we’d not be called again over the next four years.  So if you don’t want to be called for service every 18 months or so don’t get yourself eliminated.  We were done around 2pm on Wednesday.

And remeber to treat your neighbor well or you might just end up in court someday.