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Juror No. 1
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a man of the people, and we respect him for that. But yesterday, he might have taken that one step too far by serving jury duty.
Sure, it sounds nice to say that the Mayor should have to sit and wait in a courthouse all day like the rest of us must do from time to time. And if none of us can claim "indispensability at work", then the Mayor shouldn't either.
But come on! This is a ridiculous waste of time. First off, LAist wants Mayor Villaraigosa running the city, not sitting in a court waiting room all day. But even if you don't think he's above it, then just consider the enormous conflict of interest. The last time Villaraigosa served jury duty, he was taken off because he knew the judge, the public defender, and the prosecutor. Now as Mayor, it's not like he doesn't hold an enormous amount of influence over their jobs. And as the article mentioned, Villaraigosa's leadership of the local ACLU chapter means a prosecutor would be brain-dead to pick him.
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So don't waste the Mayor's time, local courthouse. Let him do his job, and don't waste our taxpayer dollars on bothering to call his house.
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Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
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