A Prospect Heights man says that when he arrived for jury duty in Brooklyn this morning he was forced to wait outside in 13 degree weather for almost a half hour with many others who were called, including a pregnant woman. The potential juror, who asked that we only identify him as Matthew W., tells us the building was open when he arrived shortly after 8 a.m., and various lawyers and court officers were entering the building. But the guard would not allow those summoned for jury duty to get in out of the cold and wait in the lobby! The Brrrrrrooklyn tipster tells us:
The office hours are listed to open at 8 a.m. We were to report at 8:30. I assumed that meant present and signed in by 8:30. We were let in after 8:25. The building was open, the guard inside was friendly, but without word from above he couldn't let people into the lobby. There was more than enough room in the security line for the 30 or so people gathered out front. Procedure and habit overruled commonsense. As a result, civic and punctual citizens shivered in very unsafe cold weather. Trial by ordeal—our civic duty?
We contacted the court's Communications Office and asked spokesman David Bookstaver if this was standard procedure, and he looked into this morning's incident. He tells us the supervisor in charge of the court officers at 360 Adams Street dealt with an angry juror around 7:30 a.m. Bookstaver hears that this unidentified man wanted to be allowed into the lobby because he saw others entering at that time, before 8 a.m. According to the Bookstaver, "these people entering before 8 were court officers going into work. At 8 a.m., we allowed people into the lobby. Not at 7:30, however, because we don't have any court officers there. We let people inside the building every day at 8 a.m."
Informed of Bookstaver's statement, Mr. W. insists that the supervisor is talking about someone else. "I was at home at 7:30," says W. "Not on the court steps until probably around 8:10 or so. Other people were allowed into the building, maybe starting at 8am. Lawyers, etc. But not the jurors. We were lined up at the top of the steps by the sympathetic guard who truly didn't seem to like the situation very much."
Furthermore, Matthew says, "I spoke to the clerk, Kevin Burns who gave our orientation this morning. He was friendly and apologized... Really, I think someone between the guard and the supervisor was late to work or taking their time enjoying a cup of coffee. And a pile of people payed the price because there wasn't a protocol. I'm sure this wasn't the first time there was bad weather and a late entry for the jurors." But will it be the last? To be on the safe side, you may not want to rush out the door to get to jury duty in the dead of winter, as excited as you may be to do your civic duty.
