Day: October 18, 2006

Bates Market

Possibly taken October 17, 2006.

I’m a little late on this but the Bates Market at the corner of 3rd and P is closed. According to the chatter on the TruxtonCircle discussion board, Georgians (of the former Soviet Republic, birthplace of Stalin) are going to take over. Why? I don’t know what attraction the place would have for area Georgians, but what appears will be interesting.
All I know is that it was poorly lit store where some folks hung out. It was a source of get drunk quick malt liquor and dusty canned goods. I had only gone in the store maybe 5 times in the years I have lived here. I prefer G&G Market on NJ and Q. No liquor or beer, well lit, and not too many people hanging out in front.

Jury of your peers

Truxtonian and I have recently been invited by the District of Columbia to appear at the DC Superior court for jury duty. Gaging the crowd forced to watch Sandra Bullock in that 1995 classic “The Net”, a lot of folks were invited and actually bothered to show up. However the crowd did not seem to reflect the 56% black, 32% white, & 10% something else demographic of the city. Also I was not as lucky as I was last time, where I was freed after lunch. This time I was called in so the lawyers could pick and choose (yeah, there is a word for it but I don’t know what it is) from the pool. The defendant, was a black male and I could count the number black men in the pool on one hand. There were a healthy number of black women, including myself, who were talking amongst ourselves trying to figure out how NOT to get picked. Then there was the huge variety of Anglos including a subset of law students, lawyers, and people who work in law firms and plan to go to law school. Chatting with T about his experience, he also noticed a whiter jury pool reflecting the demographic of people moving into the city.
What does this mean for justice? For the city? I don’t know. All I know is that the jury lounge needs more tables, more electrical outlets, and some decent wifi.