In all criminal prosecutions. . .

. . .the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

~Amendment 6 to the US Constitution

I have not committed a crime, but I am going to court. Today I will fulfill my civic duty and report for jury duty. Most people groan at the prospect, but I'm one of the few geeks, nerds, and apparently mentally "messed-up" people who actually enjoys going. Not that I LOVE to spend my time sitting in a courtroom, but I do find a deep-lurking sense of pleasure and fascination with our legal system.

I--for one--am thankful that we have the right to a trial by jury of our peers--and I will do everything I can to support that right--even if it means interrupting my work week to sit for 8 hours listening to (if I'm lucky) attorneys and judges rapid-fire questions at that poor specimen in the jury box, or (if I'm unlucky) reading in it's entirety the biography of Noah Webster I kept intending to pick up but never quite got around to.