The following story serves as a reminder that a particular witness can continue to be a witness far beyond the event itself. Yesterday I spent the whole day at Media Court House undergoing jury duty selection for a murder trial. When the judge and attorneys queried me about my answers to some of their form questions, my explanations may have helped de-select me, as follows:
What was the crime that I had been convicted of? “Carrying the message directly to Christian employees of Lockheed-Martin that making weapons that could destroy the world was not a practice that Jesus could approve of.” What were the crimes that I had witnessed? “Workers for peace being arrested at the Pentagon and Lockheed-Martin (the world’s largest military producer) for their peaceful civil disobedience.” What was the maximum penalty for the crime for which I was convicted? “$500, but after hearing my defense at trial, the judge reduced my fine to $100 and court costs, said he essentially agreed with me except for my method, and shook my hand.” Why had I said that could not promise to follow the judge’s instructions? “If there were a significant conflict between the law and my conscience, I would have to follow my conscience.”
Oh, and I wore a button (next to my juror button) that said “Support the troops. Bring them home.”
So, no jury duty — makes me think of Arlo Gurthrie and Alice’s Restaurant. For those of you not old enough (or over-the-hill enough) to know better, that is an iconic song of the 70’s, putting in verse how a Thanksgiving Day misdemeanor (dumping trash illegally because the dump was closed) resulted in the unintended consequence of his being found unfit for the Vietnam draft because of his criminal record.