I have a jury summons for tomorrow, and I'm scared

[marjaerwin]

I have a jury summons for tomorrow [to be in a jury pool, not to appear before a gorram grand jury], and I'm scared. I could be jailed for refusing to do wrong. I also have ptsd. I ought to be more afraid of missing an opportunity to help someone in danger than afraid of being jailed or being bashed again. Inaction in the face of violence is also violence but participation in a system of injustice tends to reinforce the injustice.

One of my older posts on justice may be relevant here:

http://marjaerwin.livejournal.com/47118.html

What is justice? I would define it as righting wrongs.

Helping the victims. Helping people heal. Helping people avoid having to face the same wrongs again. And one of the wrongs is that our institutions are based on domination, our culture is based on silencing, and many people's instinct for justice and compassion has been turned into another tool for domination, and with it, for injustice and brutality.

Punishment/retribution/revenge is not justice.

P.S. http://www.salon.com/2012/10/15/us_has_more_prisoners_prisons_than_any_other_country/

Comments

[daisydeadhead.livejournal.com]

I wore a funny hat to mine, and they got rid of me posthaste. :) But this is the south, so I could count on that to happen. (It was all civil trials, some rich people trying to get money from some other rich people, so I didn't feel any guilt about it.)

So how did it go?

[marjaerwin]

I was triggered out of my gourd the night before, and emotionally exhausted the day of the summons. So I spent the whole day in something of a daze. There was only one jury trial that day, for a traffic infraction. I was in the alternate group, so really nothing happened.