PITY THE FOOL WHO DOESN'T SERVE JURY DUTY
I was happy to read in today's Chicago Sun-times that Mr. T proudly served jury duty this week. I have heard of people complaining when the jury summons arrives in the mail, but it truly is an important service and our civic duty. Americans should be proud to serve on a jury and not take the constitutional right of a jury trial for granted. Much of the world does not have the right to have a group of your peers consider your case.
The Sun-times reported that there was no bad attitude on the part of the actor regarding jury duty.
"If you're innocent, I'm your best man," he said. "But if you're guilty, I pity that fool." Mr. T was called for jury duty at the Cook County Criminal Court where he signed autographs and took pictures with fans. The "Rocky III" and "A-Team" star told stories during down time, autographed books and posed for pictures with other potential jurors, county employees -- and the family of the defendant in the case he could have ended up hearing.
"I enjoy doing my civic duty along with my friends I've met," said the Chicago-born actor, 56, motioning to the 20-plus potential jurors who'd been in the room with him for about five hours. "I enjoyed the people that were around me. It's not about 'The A-Team;' it's the J-Team -- the jury team."
