jury duty – honor or horror?

I’m currently reading a book about the mistrial of the century.  Hhhmmm…whatever could that be?  Give up? I’ll give you the first 2 letters as a hint:  O and J.  Actually I think this is the fourth book I’ve read on the trial.  The first one I read was called “Outrage”.  Perfect title for it, cause that’s the only thing, besides disbelief, that you could feel while reading it.  Anyway….one of the jurors wrote a book called “Mistrial of the Century”  It’s written partly from the view of the sequestered author, and partly from his wife.  It hasn’t even gotten into the trial yet, and it’s so maddening.  These 24 people, 12 jurors & 12 alternates,  who received the “privilege” of serving on a jury are treated worse than the defendant.  Upon being selected for this honor, they receive a list of do’s & don’t’s, what they are allowed to bring with them, and are then stripped of their identities, renamed “juror #602″ or “juror #72″, or so on.  Each assigned to a hotel room, all on the same floor, with no phone, radio, or TV.  All newspapers they receive have been “edited”  – any reference related to Simpson or the trial have been literally cut out.  A strict schedule they each must adhere to.  Time to wake up, stand out in hallway, line up, get into elevator, go to breakfast, return to their floor, only to wait to be rounded up again, like cattle, to be transported to the courthouse.  This is all done under the watchful eyes of deputies, and the overseers. When “bedtime” is announced, each juror must stand at their door and turn the key in to an overseer.  Once they retire for the night, no one is allowed out of their room until roll call for breakfast.  Everyone must do everything together.  If you don’t want to go eat breakfast, you must go, you don’t have to eat, but you must go!  They have time in the evening to make a personal call.  4 phones in one room, with deputies nearby to listen.  The deputy initiates the call from previously completed list, and asks the person being called a “security question” to confirm that it really is the person the juror said they wanted to call, and warning them the conversation may be monitored.  15 minute limit.  It’s a difficult conversation, each person it to afraid to say something that may be forbidden.  The jurors have nothing else going on in their lives.  What can they have to say?   “Oh, honey, I had 2 pieces of rye bread with dinner tonight”.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, uh, I mean jail,  we have the defendant, watching whatever he wants on TV, reading what he wants, talking to whomever, about whatever he wants.  How is this fair?  How can it be said that one should feel honored to serve on a jury when you are treated in such a manner.  Why is the bad guy treated so much better?  Like my mother has claimed many times, “the laws are there to protect the criminals.”  The author described his experience as dehumanizing, isolating and demeaning.  At some point, he was dismissed as a juror,  I don’t know why, yet, haven’t gotten that far.  I can only imagine it must have felt like he was paroled from his emotional hell.