Joe Biden Reports for Jury Duty
Mr. Biden’s office announced his jury duty in an e-mail that read, “The vice president will participate in the standard jury selection process in his capacity as a private citizen.”
But the waiting room in the courtroom apparently needed no formal announcement, according to the local newspaper, The News Journal of Wilmington. The vice president arrived with Secret Service agents and took calls on a secure phone during a break.
“I don’t consider myself different than any other person,” Mr. Biden told The News Journal. “It is an honor to be a part of the system.”
Mr. Biden’s jury duty comes just a week after Justice Elena Kagan sat for hours in a District of Columbia courtroom waiting to see if she would be called to serve on a jury. She was not.
And last year, a court in Chicago requested that President Obama appear, ready to serve. The leader of the free world replied that he was busy.
Mr. Biden, by contrast, apparently has some spare time.
It seems strange that the person one seat away from the presidency might not be excused by a judge. But the official jury duty instructions on the Web site of the Delaware courts do not say anything about White House service as an excuse.
“Delaware citizens are selected and summoned for jury duty on a random basis,” the Web site says. “The pool of candidates includes citizens who have registered to vote and/or those who have obtained a Delaware vehicle operator’s license and individuals who are issued a state identification card.”
The instructions say, “if you need to be excused from jury duty, or if you want to request another date, follow the instructions on the summons.” Either Mr. Biden did not request to be excused, or the court decided that his excuse was not good enough.
Either way, it would be interesting to see what would happen if Mr. Biden, known to be long-winded from time to time, was actually chosen to serve on a jury.
News From: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
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