Woman Finds Out Why You Shouldn't Skip Jury Duty

A potential juror in Young Thug's trial who skipped the start of jury selection could've been held in contempt of court and faced a fine, jail time, or both. Instead, a judge in Fulton County, Georgia, came up with a much more old-school, Bart Simpson-like solution: have the woman write an essay on the importance of jury duty. WSB reports "Juror No. 64" decided to continue her vacation in the Dominican Republic instead of showing up for jury selection on Monday, prompting Judge Ural Glanville to ask deputies to take her into custody when she finally made it back to the States.

On Thursday, the woman appeared before Glanville and insisted she'd cleared the trip with the court and even sent her itinerary. Glanville told the woman "you can't be in two places at one time," and that other potential jurors had "lost hundreds of thousands of dollars" making sure they got to jury duty as planned, reports the BBC. Then came the "teaching moment," per News24: Instead of hitting her with a contempt of court charge—which comes with a $1,000 fine, 20 days behind bars, or both—Glanville ordered the woman to write an essay on the civic responsibility of serving as a juror. A big one.

Glanville demanded a 30-page writeup, complete with 20 sources. "You have to do APA style," Glanville noted to the woman after verifying she was a college graduate, instructing her to use at least 10 primary sources and 10 secondary sources, per the BBC. He also warned her he'd be running the essay through a plagiarism checker, and that she had until Feb. 13 to complete it, at which point Glanville would discuss her work with her. Meanwhile, jury selection continues for the Grammy-winning Young Thug (real name: Jeffery Williams), who has been accused of using his YSL music label for gang conspiracy and racketeering. (More Young Thug stories.)