I'm ashamed of myself because...

Around a year ago, I was on a grand jury--
A woman was arrested in a mall for leaving her young child alone in her car--
For an hour or two--
Her explanation: She was applying for a job & it took longer than she had expected--

Everyone voted a true bill--(grand juries, it's been said, would convict a ham sandwich)

I was shocked--I thought that our grand jury leader would defend the woman--

I did not--

I should have made an eloquent statement--that it was Christmas time--that the woman was a recent immigrant & we should show some compassion--that she surely must have gotten the message--

Why make her life and her child's life harder? She was applying for job, dammit!

But...I was intimidated by the idea of going against everyone else.

I said nothing. And I am ashamed of myself.