Hall Of Justice

Judge: Do you know anyone in this courtroom or on the witness list i just mentioned?
Juror 8: Yes Your Honor. I swiped right on defense counsel last week and she still hasn’t messaged me.
Judge: Thank you for your service Juror 8, you’re dismissed.
But seriously, jury service is fun. If you’re employer pays you for it. If not, there are a million websites with tips on how to get out of it without being that jerk who keeps saying «no, i don’t think i can be impartial at all your honor (the plaintiff looks like this birthday clown my parents used to hire and the memories are just too painful… sniffle sniffle… to bear»).
They have decent wifi, plugs and desks, and the «how to jury» video is only mildly sarcastic.
Also, don’t be one of those people who calls in ever afternoon. Go down to the jury room (3^rd floor), and ask the clerk for a single day to come in. At least then you aren’t frantically canceling and rescheduling meetings at 5PM for the next day.

Doing your civic duty, jury duty. It’s important.
I look out over room 307 (the juror reporting room) and see everyone’s head down in a book, laptop or engaged with a smartphone. A sad and lonely place even when your surrounded by more than 100 other people. Talking is not prohibited strangers generally don’t to anyone else. At least not until the second and third day of jury selection. That makes me sad in a way. Here are all these wonderful people just wishing they could be back at work, we could have an spontaneous game of duck duck goose if we cleared a spot in the back. Maybe a game of poker, no one thought about the cards did they? The fact is that know one wants to be here at all. Most times you get to walk out and never see a courtroom. Sometimes you go sit in a courtroom and become part of the jury selection process. When that happens you might get selected to be on the jury. Not fun either and certainly no duck duck goose in the actual courtroom.
Watch a video, sit around for a 10 minute long roll call, sit around some more and then hope to get dismissed. That’s the way we all hope it works out. I’ve been here more than a few times over the years and I’ve never been selected to be on an actual jury until this last time. At $ 17.50 a day who wants to be on a jury. I was dismissed before the case started.
The court is always running late. You show up on time and they tell you to come back.
It’s just a part of doing the you part for society, it’s your civic duty.

After receiving a jury summons, I scoured the internets for information on what to expect. Nothing seemed super clear, so here was my experience:
8:45am show up and go through security.
9:00am go upstairs to room 307 and check in. ask the check in guys about how to request to be excused, they say wait for the judge
9:00−9:30am hear basic announcements (ie if a felon, let us know), watch a quick video about the jury process, raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth
9:45am judge comes in and explains how long the case will be (approx 8 days for us) and that out of everyone in the room (about 120 people), only 12 will be selected to the jury. you can opt to either fill out a questionnaire or fill out a hardship form.
if you fill in the questionnaire, you simply hand it in and are told to return in 1 – 3 business days to see if you go further through the process.
if you fill a hardship form, the judge will review it and the assistant will read aloud the names of those people who are either excused or postponed. if you are not excused or postponed, I imagine you have to fill out a questionnaire like everyone else.
this first day takes only about 2 hours in total and is the beginning of the narrowing of the jury pool. most everyone was out by 10:30 — 11:00am. it’s simply a beginning vetting process. your odds of getting selected are actually fairly low, but you just have to be patient and wait to find out.
good luck!

Been summoned for jury duty? I’m going to tell you all about my experience.
Check the website the night before you are on-​call. It will tell you whether your assigned on-​call group is being called in.
The instructions say you should report by 8:45. I got there at 8:45 and there was no line. I think there were lines before that and there was a huge line by 9, so there’s a pretty narrow optimal arrival window. The 47 bus drops off right across the street, and the 12 and 19 stops are very close as well.
You are first seated in a giant room where they’ll play a couple of videos before you are called into courtrooms for the «chance» to be selected. The TVs are old tube ones so sit close if you have bad vision and the videos themselves look like they were made in 1990. Buckle up, they are boring (and somehow manage also to be minimally informative). This room claims to have wifi but I never actually managed to get connected.
You then get split into yet another set of groups (I’m not sure why they don’t just use the original group assignments, or publish a list you can check on your phone or the wall). They do this in phases of calling out lists of names of 140 people. Seems like they only call your name once and if you aren’t on time downstairs in the courtrooms when they take attendance, they make a big show of telling everyone you’ll be sent another summons, so listen for your name carefully. I am pretty sure the names get called in alphabetical order by last name, not randomly.
When you first sit down in the jury selection process the judge describes the planned trial schedule. My group’s trial was going to be 1.5 weeks which seemed like a relative piece of cake next to needing to come back for this whole process at some arbitrary point in the future.
We were given several breaks during the day ranging from 15 – 90 minutes each. There is not a lot going on in this neighborhood (unless you need a bail bond). Café Roma is the nicer of the two coffee shops across the street with big windows and a decent looking prepared food case but no power and Caffe In is a little less on the food /​ambience but to its credit does have pretty good wifi and quite a few power outlets. The courthouse wifi is spotty at best but at least I did manage to find power outlets in the hallway outside the courtroom.
The selection process itself is a very strange emotional combo of both wanting to get picked and really not wanting to get picked. If you are in one of the 24 hot seats subject to the grand inquisition, you know your next week to several months might be overtaken by continuing to come back here. On the other hand, it is pretty interactive and it feels like you are actually contributing. If you are not in a hot seat, it’s pretty boring and they instruct you not to use your phone. You also live on the edge of anticipation that they *might* call you at any moment. That process feels a little like bingo. Or the Hunger Games.
I have watched some courtroom dramas in my day, so I was expecting the juror dismissal process, but since Wikipedia references on this seem pretty sparse, if your jury selection is a criminal case: the prosecution and defense each get to dismiss up to ten people (in alternating order). They did this in two rounds of five, and after the first round and ten people were excused, they called ten more people into the hot-​seats to replace them and started the questioning process over. After the lawyers agree on a jury, the judge asks one more time if anyone can’t serve for any reason (now is NOT the time to speak up, someone tried to get off and didn’t); and then they call up six more people to fill the alternate seats. Finally, when these seats are filled (about eight hours after original arrival), everybody else in the courtroom is dismissed. Woo hoo! Off the hook for a year!
As an aside, I don’t know why people would make the time to show up for jury duty and then disappear before being excused but about five people in my pool fell off during the breaks. The judge issued warrants and they’re going to be fined $ 500! So don’t leave without getting their permission!

The worst place to have to go in San Francisco. Parking is a rip off. Jury duty is not a paid duty if you work in San Francisco county. Total disregard for us San Franciscans that take the day off to come here for. issues and.concerns unrelated to our jobs or livelihood. Please get it together.

Most people who have to come here aren’t very happy about it as it means court, jury duty, paying a ticket, etc. Not everybody’s favorite things. The facility itself is beautiful– the staff are all there with a job to do and considering that there is a jail on the 7^th floor they can often seem cranky, but there job can have some serious issues if they mess up. Just remember the golden rule here and a friendly smile will make it a little more enjoyable for everyone.

I have been on a circuit of being summoned for over ten years now like clockwork to this particular court. I think it’s unfair that ‘the system’ allows that once they summon you to criminal court you’re stuck forever going there. In the 80’s and 90’s I was summoned to both civil and criminal courts at random. Even my son is continually being summoned each time to criminal court. What gives?
And criminal court is not a picnic. Surely in the old days it was worse than how it was as to waiting around. However, even nowadays one still has to wait and wait in that space called the jury waiting room until either one is dismissed en mass or, more likely, be summoned to a waiting courtroom. Then it gets more long and drawn out.
I don’t think I’d mind so much if the location were more convenient for one thing. And it surely is a lovely area to walk around (not). Or drive to. Secondly the court is as dismal as a prison. The courtrooms, the furnishings, the floors, and the hallways are so horrifically depressing. What can one think when they sit on those hard, wooden chairs from pre-​1960 and notice the peeling linoleum flooring. They have never done much renovating since they built this building and it shows. When one sees other criminal courts on TV (actual courtrooms not TV show courtrooms) they are all modern and at least a bit cheerful. Not here at Bryant St. And why not? The City certainly pulls in lots of revenue… I mean if they’re going to force the public to do their civic duty then at least make it a bit pleasant to be there.
And don’t even ask about certain judges who will excuse some yet deny the legitimate excuses of others.

My review is of the phone support for prospective jurors. On two different occasions over the years, including today, I’ve had to call and request a particular type of postponement in my jury duty. In each case, the phone staff was extraordinarily courteous, accommodating and competent. Always want to give a shout out for positive phone experiences (and the opposite for negative ones).

A lovely vacation destination, do visit the snack store on the first floor of the hall of justice to make the most of your stay.

You can’t really say much as it’s jury duty.
The building itself is nice looking on the outside but kind of dated looking on the inside. Actually, the 3^rd floor looks rough and that’s where the pooled, potential jurors gather. Nonetheless, I’m happy to be doing my civic duty.
After going through security, I met Officer Albie Esparza today. He’s a really nice guy and kind of a SF celebrity because he’s always on the news acting as a spokesperson for the SFPD.
I opted to take MUNI today as I wasn’t sure of the parking situation. I did notice a few parking garages directly across the street from 850 Bryant.
Bring a book or a laptop (iPad) and be prepared to wait in a large room with approximately 300 other San Franciscans and do your civic duty!

After years of missing out, I finally got the call to report the next morning for jury duty. I woke up earlier than usual that morning, exhilarated to do my civic duty. Even the lack of parking and limited transit options to the area didn’t bother me, as it gave me the opportunity for a 15-​minute walk from the Civic Center BART/​MUNI station, taking me through some of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the city.
I immediately felt like a celebrity, starting with the tired half-​smile the officer gave me when I went through security and continuing as I walked down the hallowed halls to my juror room. The DMV-​style chairs and old carpet couldn’t get me down when the WiFi was free and plentifuli. And then they showed us all an introductory video that made me swell in pride for the great service I was doing for my country today!
The dramatic scene from the courtroom had me waiting with baited breath. Would I be the one privileged to see through the seven-​day trial of justice in action? As I sat on the edge of my cold, hard seat, the judge’s reassurances that serving on a trial would be special made me feel good.
Tears welled up in my eyes at the judge dismissed me. Boldly, I made two phone calls as I sprinted out of the courthouse. It was like a scene out of the movies! On my second beautiful walk back to the Civic Center station, I felt an enormous surge of nationalistic pride, feeling delight at the great service I provided my country today.

I mean, it’s jury duty. It’s boring, it’s long, no one wants to be there but it is your civic duty. If you’re lucky, you will get some real characters in the jury pool who will tell all kinds of fun and interesting stories.
The first jurors room is set up just like an old terminal at SFO (maybe that’s where they got the chairs and tables). Ironically, the wi-​fi name is also SFO. The hall of justice is where most of the criminal cases are held. If you received your jury duty to the other location, civic center, then you’re more likely to have a civil case.
There is a small snack shop downstairs and there is a sketchy McDonalds just outside. There is also a Subway within walking distance. The first cases typically start around 9:30am, you will get a 1.5 hour lunch break as well as two 15 min breaks. So, it’s really not torture, you just don’t get to leave until your *hopefully* excused.
Expect to spend most of the day in a courtroom in the gallery box. You can’t really do too much there but pay attention to what is going on. It can be quite interesting if you can get into it.

The caption for 2 stars explains it all: «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
Pretty much sums it up. You can only experience ANYTHING better than ANY «Hall of Justice». Jury duty, paying tickets, going to court, etc. is just unpleasant for regular folks. I’m sure it is a very different experience if you work there or your work brings you there.
If you can, I recommend public transportation if you have to come here. The parking lots get full so quick around the time they open, so get there early, but then you have to pay $ 20 out the gate plus however long you’re there. I don’t know, I always found it better to take the bus than to circle around wasting gas, paying for parking and paying whatever more I have to inside. I mean what’s an hour (30 minutes from my house) and $ 4.50 (bus fare is $ 2.25 now) for a round trip to a terrible obligation? Think about it, before you allow the system to create more hardship for yourself.
All that stuff aside, the outside architecture is horrendously spartan and imposing. The inside is somewhat of a different story, I do like it, it has somewhat of an art-​deco type of feel? I don’t know, I’m no architect. It has a classic ‘40s or ‘50s feel to it, it the best I could personally describe it.
So that’s about it. Oh here’s a tip if you’re sequestered for jury duty, if you don’t feel like leaving to have something to eat outside of the building, there’s a little café/​store on the first floor right when you walk in. Never checked it out, but yeah, its there.

«Yay, jury duty!,» said no one ever.
The system of jury duty is wonky this time around. You’re on call all week, and have to check a web site multiple times a day until your group number is called to one of the courts. You may be required to show up to a court in SF, San Jose, or even the Palo Alto court. Wtf?
Also if selected, you will get about $ 17/​day in pay, including transportation costs. Ouch. That’s not even enough for lunch in this city.
I’m all for doing my civic duty, but dang, this is a very inefficient up way of doing things. Let us get in, get selected or not ASAP, then get on with it.

I was here answering a jury summons today, and this review is strictly to share my observations pertaining to the food and drink situation.
Outside food and drink are permitted in the Jury Assembly Room, but not in the courtrooms (duh!). As far as I could tell walking through the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd floors, there is no café or vending machine. If there are any water fountains, they are hard to find.
So, if you get hungry before noon or don’t want to spend money on lunch across the street, pack a couple snacks. And bring a water bottle… I guess you could order delivery to the courthouse too. :)

In an effort to procrastinate from my work, here goes my review of the Hall of Justice, where I was just selected as a juror.
Pros:
— Well-​organized jury selection process. I was in at 8:45 and the process was done by around 3. This may seem like a long time but hundreds of questions need to be asked of all jurors in that time frame.
— Very polite & friendly staff who are respectful of your time
— Very good WiFi
Cons:
— Old/​depressing building
— No convenient parking on site
— No café on site

Hall of Justice hasn’t been a destination for me for decades. went once or twice to protest parking or moving violations. takes an whole afternoon, waiting for ur case to be heard.
seldom got a ticket dismissed. sometimes contested ticket fines were cut in ½.
nowadays wouldn’t know what could happen.
seems the parking fees and time spent isn’t worth it. so just paid the fines if i get one.
–and keep plenty of quarters on hand…
2.5 stars then .
meter people more lenient these days, giving me some breaks, more lectures than tickets. so staying with 3 stars.

I just finished serving on a month-​long murder trial, so I’ve spent a fair amount of time here. Aside from the venue being rather dingy and depressing, and the general environment being pretty sketchy, I don’t have much negative feedback from the perspective of being a juror. I found the entire jury experience to be exceedingly well-​organized, and everyone concerned made an overt effort to be respectful of our time.
As the atmosphere and surroundings will be the first thing you’ll experience, I’ll get that out of the way… the building is a massive behemoth that’s kinda run down, but seems like it was built to survive a nuclear holocaust (or major earthquake?). There’s a creepy back stairwell in which I once smelled the unmistakeable scent of weed (hello, irony!). The neighborhood is also pretty sketchy — a couple of times I questioned whether I should be listening to my iPod there, even in the middle of the day, and I’m not that easily intimidated. Additionally, as this building also serves as the repository for police evidence, it’s not unusual to see people unloading things like giant assault rifles from cars on the street outside.
Whew. Yeah, it’s an adventure just to walk in here. That said, once you get to the jury selection process it’s pretty smooth sailing. SLOW smooth sailing, but if you take that as a given you’ll notice things like: they know exactly what they’re doing regarding number of people required, and provide as much information as possible as early as they can. The jury selection process was quite tedious; however, once I wrapped my head around this as a baseline expectation, I appreciated how efficiently it was handled. Additionally, once I was actually selected as a juror, I was very impressed with the extent to which the judge and counsel worked to ensure that our time was used as painlessly as possible. The trial I served on occurred over Christmas and New Year’s, so scheduling witnesses was apparently pretty difficult. However, they were upfront about this and always gave us as much notice as possible about when we’d be required to be at the courthouse. I also think they erred on the conservative side when giving time estimates, which is great — jury selection took a full day less than predicted, and the trial wrapped a couple of days ahead of schedule.
As for the actual experience of watching a murder trial, and being responsible for evaluating the facts: pretty intense. It’s a heavy responsibility to know that, if you screw up in one direction a killer will go free, while if you screw up in the other direction an innocent person will go to jail. However, I am happy to report that the case was extremely well-​argued on both sides, and I’m confident the verdict was the correct one.
Overall — the Hall of Justice was an adventure, and mostly in a good way. If you get that dreaded jury notice, do not fear! There are worse things for sure, and besides — don’t you appreciate having things like roads and fire departments and such? We’re not asked to do much as citizens, so you may as well accept your civic duty and serve with a smile.

Jury duty …
The perfect time to catch up on Unilocal!;-)

Came here for jury duty and it is troublesome. First the line to get in. Waiting and needing to take off belt and all this for the security gate, swear we were at the airport.
Going up to the 3^rd floor and stepping into room 307, the smell from the room is overwhelming. It is just really strong.
Being selected for a case. The first batch they will take will be about half. Those are the cases that take at least a month. The other 2 are smaller cases that last about a week and are sometimes criminal sometimes civil.
Get ready to wait. They say to come back at a certain time, but the doors don’t reopen until at least half an hour later than what they said. I do mean at least, last time they said everyone needed to be there at noon sharp, the doors didn’t open till 1:30pm.