Former US president Barack Obama answered a jury summons Wednesday, but was dismissed soon after arriving at a Chicago courthouse to perform the civic duty asked of all Americans
Former US president Barack Obama answered a jury summons Wednesday, but was dismissed soon after arriving at a Chicago courthouse to perform the civic duty asked of all Americans.
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As a prospective juror, Obama joined fellow citizens at Cook County’s Daley Center courthouse, all waiting to see if they would be chosen to serve on a trial. “Thanks everybody for serving on the jury. Or, at least being willing to,” he said to laughter. The former law professor left by midday, along with a number of others who were randomly selected for dismissal, according to the Tribune.
Former President Barack Obama extends his hand as he attends Cook County jury duty at the Daley Center on Thursday. PIC/AFP
Before heading to court, the former president tweeted in the morning about Tuesday night’s high-profile state and mayoral election results seen as a sweeping repudiation of the politics of his White House successor Donald Trump. “This is what happens when the people vote,” Obama wrote. “Every office in a democracy counts!”
Obama is not the first US president to show up for service that some Americans either dread or find excuses to avoid. Obama’s predecessor in the White House, George W Bush, responded to a jury summons in 2015. Bush was not selected to serve as a juror.
Chicago has some experience with high-profile jurors. In 2004, media titan Oprah Winfrey, who at the time produced her talk show out of the midwestern city, was a juror on a three-day murder trial ending in a conviction.
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