Policy & Practice December 2017

a colleague, I was “woke.” For me, serving as the deputy of a national human services association, being woke feels like being foolish—for not knowing before what I now know in my bones. But it also feels like being cleaner, wiser, and more equipped. My summons to serve on a District of Columbia (DC) grand jury came in a small official-looking envelope. Mandatory service it said, with no exceptions. I had been called to petit jury service before—the 12 people comprising a trial jury—and had been picked for one. But this was a grand jury, and I had no idea what it was or did. To quote