YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED TO APPEAR IN ROOM 240 COURTHOUSE WEST, ST. PAUL AND LEXINGTON STS… FAILURE TO REPORT FOR JURY SERVICE MAY RESULT IN PENALTIES UP TO $1,000 FINE, OR UP TO 60 DAYS IMPRISONMENT OR BOTH.
When I first opened the official notice, I was a bit troubled. Not that I have any problem with doing my civic duty, but to me the whole situation was filled with irony. Not to mention the potential of severe economic loss caused by a day, or many days of no real income.
You see, one of the last times I was in that very building, for what was to be a routine preliminary appearance for a hearing, I was taken into custody upon entering. I was held without a charge for 40 days! Yup, 40 days of no income, 40 days of my house left unattended (broken into several times), 40 days of mental anguish being held and having not committed a crime. This is a place I’d sooner never re-enter unless I was some sort of plaintiff suing the pants of this city for all that it put me through.
If you’re not familiar with the story of the abuse and harassment I’ve suffered at the hands of Baltimore City Police, I’ll have to save it for another time.
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