The Cranky Old Guy Goes to Court

Kenneth J. Owen
615 John Muir Drive, #D708
San Francisco, CA 94132
Email: kowen98@yahoo.com


Dear Mayor Breed:

My name is Kenneth J. Owen. I am a 65 year old San Francisco native currently living near Lake Merced.

In 2020 I retired from my 30 year career in Silicon Valley as a Business Process Analyst (BPA). My expertise was used to observe various departments within a company, learn their systems and processes, interview the players for their roles, responsibilities, information flow and dependencies, then map out the process (as-is) and make recommendations to management on how to improve any deficiencies (to-be).

I have recently participated in the Jury Selection Process for San Francisco Superior Court, and have included the notes of my experiences and recommendations for process improvement below for your review. As is with most people who are summoned to report, my experience with the process left many things to be desired.


Jury Selection Process
March 7 - 28, 2023

Time Spent
March 07: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 3rd floor, juror orientation, completed questionnaire.
March 16: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, not called.
March 17: No court session.
March 20: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, not called.
March 21: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, not called.
March 22: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, not called.
March 23: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, not called.
March 24: No court session.
March 27: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, called in afternoon session.
March 28: Appeared at 850 Bryant, 2nd floor department 28 for juror interviews, interviewed and dismissed in afternoon session.

Judge Alexandra R. Gordon
The judge was professional, personable, accommodating, and clearly explained answers to any questions.

Interview Process
(Note: all numbers are estimates)

Although the Judge was very clear in her instructions about the length of lunch and session break times, the court was late returning for the start of every session by an average of 10-15 minutes. It appeared that the officers of the court returned at the time requested, but the court then held business behind close doors until they were the ready to call in prospective jurors, further strengthening a negative message as to how the court did not value the time of the potential jurors.

Roll call was done by the court clerk each morning by a call-and-answer method which sometimes took 15 minutes or longer. There were confusing moments during each roll call with many attendance issues needing to be resolved each day. One day 6 people showed up in court and were told that they had been excused via phone and email messages sent the previous day; one session started with a juror being on the day’s roll call but also on the judge’s list as previously excused. The first session roll call (Day 1, 3rd floor orientation) was done by scanning QR codes placed on the notice sent to all prospective jurors. It is unclear why this method is not used for roll call throughout the Juror Selection Process.

The first day of interviews had so many potential jurors scheduled that a group of approximately 30 jurors had to wait in the hallway outside the courtroom when the gallery was at capacity and, as a result, would not hear any of the judges instructions.A group of 20 jurors from the Monday session were dismissed and told to return on Thursday with no reason given for their two-day exemption. Some of those jurors were called for interviews that Thursday ahead of jurors who had been in court all week.

The pacing of the interviews was such that only 12 jurors were interviewed each day, yet the court called a full gallery of potential jurors for each session (aprox. 75-100 people). 

It quickly became clear that most potential jurors were not aware that they would be required to answer questions from counsel in front of such a large audience of their peers, adding to their uneasiness in public speaking. The Judge did offer private counsel for any potential juror who felt uncomfortable delivering private information or concerns.

In doing their due diligence in giving equal time and questions to all potential jurors, counsel for the defendants and prosecution seemed to belabor the interviews of the good citizens whose native language was not English, thereby forcing them to endure their public embarrassment while struggling with the language and basic concepts outlined in the questions.

Recommendations
Though I realize the officers of the court did not design the process they are chartered with facilitating, Judge Gordon, who thanked the prospective jurors each day for their continued patience, would not have to start each day’s session with an apology for the length of the proceedings if the selection process had been designed with any thought of minimizing the impact on the prospective jurors.

Every system and process needs a goal to help measure its success, and I humbly suggest these two goals as a place to start:

Jury Duty Selection Process: Goals and Expectations

For The Defendants: To identify and select citizens best capable of performing an unbiased and fair review of verbal testimony and physical evidence in rendering a verdict in their case.

For The Prospective Jurors: To allow citizens to serve their civic duty by participating in a judicial process that allows for maximum expediency while ensuring minimal disruption to their daily responsibilities with limited impact on their family, community, and place and means of employment.

In Summary
Any sense of civic pride I had about participating in the Jury Selection Process was quickly squashed by the second day of sitting in a crowded courtroom, adding no value to the proceedings, while putting all my business and personal responsibilities on hold. Since I am now semi-retired, I had to bear all costs for my attendance. I had no way to expect how long the juror selection process would be, and as a result, I mis-scheduled and was unable to attend many important business and social events. Though the judge did give an estimate of the trial length (2.5 - 3 months), experiencing the inefficiencies of the Jury Selection Process would leave no one with confidence in the court’s ability to estimate the length of the trial.

As crime in our city continues to worsen and people feel more threatened about their safety and despondent about their lack of power to enlist change, we can no longer afford to disenfranchise citizens by expecting them to participate in an extremely inefficient process that is destroying the very sense of civic duty we seek in prospective jurors. Though I have no background in criminal justice systems, it is readily apparent that the Jury Selection Process as used by the San Francisco Superior Court, with its impact on all those who are asked to participate, either directly or peripherally, is exacerbating this very problem.

It is with all due respect that I submit these notes on my experience, and would gladly accept any offer to discuss these issues and concerns in further detail.


Respectfully,



Kenneth J. Owen

cc: District Attorney Brooke Jenkins
cc: Judge Alexandra R. Gordon
cc: Patricia Guerrero, Chief Justice of California Judicial Branch
cc: Mark Culkins, Interim Court Executive Officer, San Francisco Superior Court
cc: Anne-Christine Massullo, Presiding Judge, San Francisco Superior Court
cc: Millicent Tidwell, Acting Administrative Director, Judicial Council of California
cc: Robert Oyung, Acting Chief Deputy Director, Judicial Council of California
cc: John Wordlaw, Chief Administrative Officer, Judicial Council of California

cc: Supervisor Connie Chan
cc: Supervisor Matt Dorsey
cc: Supervisor Joel Engardio
cc: Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
cc: Supervisor Myrna Melgar
cc: Supervisor Aaron Peskin
cc: Supervisor Dean Preston
cc: Supervisor Hillary Ronen
cc: Supervisor Ahsha Safai
cc: Supervisor Catherine Stefani
cc: Supervisor Shamann Walton

We Rise Together

(Poetry by Numbers)

Lately

the sun 

seems tired

on most mornings

it can barely 

produce enough energy

to clear the horizon

and start the day

yet as it struggles

to begin its journey

we rise together ready in 

our quest for inspiration knowing 

that quiet reflection and dreaming

will deliver the plans to

help us seize the day.

Ken Owen February 2023

©Van Niddy Press

We're Sorry to See You Go

After much

deliberation

I have decided 

that if 

one day

by simply taking 

a few minutes

to fill out 

a short internet survey

I become eligible 

and win

a free limited time gift

of a generator 

or a power drill

or a $50 gift certificate

or an unlocked iPhone

or a brand new crock pot

I will plan to donate 

my prize to the 

honorable but unfortunate

men and women

who have served in 

our country’s military interest

while drinking 

the water

at Camp LeJeune

as a way

to honor their

strength and perseverance

which are the very attributes 

I now lack after many months 

of unsubscribing from mailing lists

all the while knowing

that the unsubscribe ritual 

doesn’t seem to do anything

but ruin the enjoyment 

of my first two cups 

of morning coffee

and reaffirm my suspicion that

these websites aren’t the least bit 

sorry to see me go

Ken Owen   December 2022

Van Niddy Press

Ain't Wastin' Time No More

I have read recent posts from musicians remarking about poorly attended local music shows, and knowing all too well the time and preparation it takes to provide a live performance, I understand their frustration. There was no mention in these posts about the current (finally!) rainy weather that we have been experiencing, the fact that we had started the holiday season where many social commitments do battle for our time, and that perhaps many folks, after a brief summer respite, might be concerned about attending events at the start of the new “Covid, Cold, and Flu Season.” Let’s hope these working musicians are just bumping into a seasonal slow down and a bit of extra caution before the holiday parties start.

I offer my utmost respect to the musicians who told stories of performing to extremely small crowds and then having those few patrons tell how much they appreciated their music. These musicians (and those who responded with comments in kind) remarked on how they consider it their “job” to bring music to the world, and I am proud to have worked with many of these good people who think of me as their musical peer and a friend.

But here’s the thing for me: music is no longer my job.

I recently opted out of one night of a residence gig (a repeating monthly show that schedules many months in advance). Though I realize there is no exact science in pre-determining a gig’s attendance unless tickets are sold in advance (which is not usually the case in bar gigs), I anticipated that because of where the date and time landed on the calendar for that month, the gig stood a good chance of being poorly attended. I canceled my participation 5 weeks in advance and said I would play if the band could not find a sub (they did), and I offered my apology for not reviewing my calendar sooner in regards to the date. As you might imagine and I’m sure many will share the same feeling, the band leader was less than pleased at my reasons for canceling.

I believe that if we spend time in personal reflection, we can find a life lesson in all of our experiences. The strong feelings that prompted my decision to back out of a gig have shown me that my priorities are shifting as I get older, and it’s time for me to rethink the value of all my time commitments, not just live performances. So going forward, my “job” will be to make sure my time is used to achieve the greatest benefit, artistic and otherwise, for myself and others, while also using this scenario as reminder of something to be aware of when doing my calendar management.

 

I am sure there will be many rebuttals to my logic for canceling, with one of them being that music performance as a business needs a following to be built/established; it doesn’t come fully baked with a packed house. I have been a part of many groups over the years that have worked hard at getting people to come to shows to build a “scene” for a club and a following for the band; I have played on the residence gig in question for 5+ years. I have put in countless hours at various gigs that were well attended, and many gigs that included 5 band members and a bar tender doing inventory. I understand this comes with the territory. I have never needed the adulation of a full house in order to feel like it was a successful gig—with a small audience, at the very least, I was honing my craft—but I will be 65 years old at the end of this month, and if living through 3 years of a deadly plague has taught me anything, it is that 1) our time here is a very precious and limited commodity that should be highly valued, and 2) there are many ways I can be creative and giving besides performing live music. 

So with the time I have left, I am going to prioritize and balance my time across many possibilities: writing a song, a poem, an essay, letters to friends or loved ones; documenting my family history, playing my guitar, reading a book, studying a documentary, spending quality time with friends and family, as well as performing live music. I am not retiring from live performances, but gigs are going to have to make a stronger case now for their place on my list of things to accomplish. 

I realize I am in a very fortunate position that might not be an available option for some of my working musician friends, but I hope they can understand my change in attitude and availability, and know that I look forward to the possibility of many challenging and rewarding collaborations with all my talented friends in the years to come.

Ken Owen
December 2022

Our Shared Grief

First AIDS Memorial Grove offering by Audrey DeChadenedes, 9/30/2022

Quiet now 

yet their voices louder here

than when they walked among us

with cries unheard.

Peaceful now 

yet alive in eternal remembrance

with the unconditional acceptance

they sought in life.

Gone now 

yet their unique images reflected

in our tears that fall and bind them

to the circle of our shared grief.

Club Deluxe

 

Photograph by Brian Castagne

Dark.

Damp smells 

of fermenting respite 

linger: bake for 12 hours

then cool with street air and Muni smoke

before serving.

Booths and high tables wiped clean

walls coated thick with sound

and a dance floor polished smooth 

by 30 years of swing.

Clean and ready for

3 afternoon street irregulars (not clean but ready)

and a confused tourist 

with a map on his phone.

***

The calm before your shift

downstairs - STAFF ONLY

a kitchen -  long cold

with a small booth and table

and toy bongos from the 60s

PLEASE KEEP THIS AREA CLEAN!

Mystery closets 

dark like grandma’s basement

mic stands and cords 

dumped in a hurried heap

the house drum kit 

sleeps here. 

                ***

Mournful troubadours

practice the ancient folk art

crafting songs that skip like 

stones across your drink only to 

sink and stare back at you

from the bottom of your glass

get one free beer and tip jar change

to go searching for yerba buena and make way 

for the rising tide.

***

Fog from Ocean Beach begins its climb

over rock-a-billy surf rocks on its way 

across the handle through the buena vista

chilling the cosmopolitan swingers and cottontails

at the street scene to be seen where

the Gentleman Door Man - long overcoat

parts the sea of alley cats and skillet lickers

rhumba bums and jukebox charlies 

so musicians can go to work where

“all proceeds go to the musicians.”

***

Soul Church 

where parishioners howl divine

uncountable

how much B3 salvation

was cooked here (1 million served?!)

how many demons exorcised

how many souls saved

with music of the world

in this americano social club

a communal place of

sacraments and psalms

love, sweat, and beer

when the service ends

“You don’t have to go home

  but you can’t stay here!”

***

Haight Street claims the fog 

a wilde wind that thanks 

all hepcat singles and royal deuces 

for coming with a sobering kiss

as they wait for gig workers

to shuttle them home

to bed, where the music in their ears

will play them to sleep

the soundtrack to a sad reality,

eventually

all things must go

Dark.

-Dedicated with appreciation to Sarah Wilde and the staff of Club Deluxe, San Francisco

Note: I am sad to report that last minute negotiations between the club owner and the landlord were unsuccessful in keeping the Club Deluxe open for business.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press

August 2022

Ken Owen at Club Deluxe, San Francisco, photograph by Sarah Wilde

Sailing

 

Sail Boat by Violet Leitner, Photograph by Audrey DeChadenedes

It matters not

the size or makings

of your craft

or which horizons

you choose to explore,

all that matters

with eyes to the horizon 

is that you sail.

Ken Owen   Van Niddy Press

August 2022