b'Matters heart of thematterThingsthat Matter Since 1990 Participating in Featuring Local People, Places and PUBLISHER the NJ Justice & EDITOR IN CHIEF SystemEllen DonkerASSOCIATEEDITORRosemary MattsonMy first time serving in virtual courtSOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERRachael Entine BY ELLEN DONKERADVERTISING CONSULTANTS B ack in Decem- someone in the know to tell me Rene ConlonH. Leslie GilmanAmy Power ber, I receivedhow one device can find an email COPY EDITORS agreenpost- and not the other. Nick Humez cardintheWhen I logged in at the ap-Tia Swanson mail.Itwaspointedtime,I,alongwith86 the kind withother people, waited for the jury CONTRIBUTORS theblackbarmanager to appear. Twenty min-Sara Courtney running across the top stating,utes later, she came on and re-Olivia Mack McCool OFFICIALJURORSUM- minded us about the importance Tia Swanson MONS.Doesanyoneeverofjuryservice.Yes,sheknew smilewhentheyreadthosethat it is inconvenient and slow, words? The card said I was tobut encouraged us to make the start petit jury on January 3; my term of service was forbest of it. She even asked people to describe the positive as-one week or one trial. Happy New Year to you, too.pects of jury service which boiled down to it being reward-Ive served on jury duty several times over the years, buting, an opportunity to learn about the law and a chance to the most memorable time was in September 1999. Themeet new people. Our jury manager ended with a quote, only reason I remember the date is that I started my servicesaying the difference between a good day and a bad day is about two hours after I had an ultrasound telling me I wasyour attitude. I liked this woman and gave her a mental A+ six weeks pregnant with triplets. Talk about having yourfor making me feel a little better about showing up.Please address all correspondence to: world rocked.After watching a few orientation videos and being told Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. In shock, I drove from my doctors office to the New- not to wear a hat or eat while on camera, we were released P.O. Box 198 ark courthouse. Honestly, it was probably better than go- for the day as the court wasnt ready for jury selection. We Maplewood, NJ 07040 ing into my small office and pretending everything waswere to appear the next day at the same link and a slightly 973-763-4900 normal. My pregnancy was considered high risk both todifferent time. mattersmagazine.comme and the babies I was carrying. If I had gone to work IOn day two, after a very long roll call, where people info@mattersmagazine.com mightve alternated between sobbing and staring blanklyfumbled with unmuting themselves to say Here! and a Matters Magazine is owned and publishedat the ceiling. Instead I went to jury duty and cried myfew had problems with their cameras, the court staff showed by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.eyes out in the anonymity of the courthouse lunchroom.us a video about court proceedings and the voir dire pro-Box 198, Maplewood, NJ 07040. MattersThankfully, my other tours of duty began with less dra- cess. By video we were introduced to the judge, the case at Magazine is free, with editions direct mailed 7 times a year to the residents of Maplewoodma. In fact, this time was the easiest yet as the first day ofhand and the attorneys. Then began the jury selection and and South Orange and distributed to busi- court was held remotely via Zoom. I count that as a nicehours of waiting. We had to stay alert and visible on camera nesses and surrounding communities total-ing 16,000. Subscriptions are available toalternative to driving to the Newark courthouse. Too bad itbecause every ten minutes or so, the court representative non-residents for $30 (U.S.), $40 (Foreign)took a pandemic to bring innovation to the court system.called the name of someone who would be moved to side-annually. No part of the publication may beWhen January 3 dawned, I positioned myself to bebar next. In virtual court, that means a breakout room. reprinted or otherwise reproduced without writtenpermissionfromVisualImpactready for my 9 oclock Zoom session. The only problemA few minutes after our lunch break, the court staff told Advertising, Inc. was I couldnt find the email with the login instructions.us the jury had been selected and just like that we had ful-CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY A quick stab of terror in my chest told me I was off to afilled our civic duty, at least for the next three years. U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS. bad start. I tried searching by date and by keywords andThe funny thing is, my children are now old enough to READ & RECYCLE then isolating my flagged emails. Then I searched on myget called for jury duty. I guess their stint in 1999 doesnt phone and there it was. Panic averted. As an aside, Id likecount. 8/ matters magazine / winter 2023'