Imprisoned America

I recently served on my first jury. It was a fascinating and challenging experience, which happened to involve a brawl around the corner from where I live. We as the jury took our job very seriously. When we concluded we did not have enough evidence to convict, I have to say that my relief was not merely limited to the fact that we wouldn’t have to come back the next day in a snow storm.

Reverse Robin Hood

Last fall I was at a conference in Detroit held in a hotel attached to a casino.

“Did you go onto the casino floor?” my boss asked me. Along with our room keys, we were given tokens to spend in the casino. I admitted I hadn’t. “You really should,” he said. “It’s the most astoundingly depressing thing. No one looks like they are having fun.” When you’ve recently had a tour of some of Detroit’s hardest hit neighborhoods, that’s saying something.