Balloons For Jurors: Feel the Love, People

California's juror appreciation week begs for some kind of Dilbert comic-strip treatment, what with all the random tokens and souvenirs that it prompts.

But Legal Pad can't really draw well. All we can offer is our vast experience on the receiving end of office spirit-building efforts. And based on that, Yolo County's got our vote.

It has some of our favorite things, assuming that appreciation isn't going to be shown with money (and given the court's fiscal outlook, we'd say there's no point in wishing for that). Come to think of it, this feedback might be good for any number of law firms in today's economy:

Food is tops on our list, particularly if you're stuck in the basement of a courthouse (or, say, reviewing discovery) for hours on end.

Then we like any kind of beverage container, because those are always in short supply in our office and using plastic cups makes us feel enviro-guilty.

Pens and pencils don't mean much, at least not to us, because our supply closet at work is full of 'em. They're free! And words of thanks from judges? Um, we'd rather be left alone to read our book. Or maybe let go 15 minutes early.

If you've served as a juror yourself, or have presented a case to some of them, feel free to use the comments section to throw out your own low-cost ideas for showing them the love. The stuff below is already being done:

• Alameda County: Give jurors candy, display a Juror Appreciation Week banner.
• Calaveras County: Give jurors refreshments, display balloons.
• Kings County: Give jurors donuts, coffee, other "treats."
• Los Angeles County: Give jurors pencils, water bottles.
• Madera County: Give jurors "finger foods," other refreshments.
• Mendocino County: Give jurors coffee and cookies, place fresh flowers in the assembly room, post signs and banners.
• Orange County: Give jurors Post-it notes printed with expressions of appreciation, magnets, bookmarks, and refreshments, run messages of appreciation on an electronic marquee, hang banners outside and inside the justice centers.
• San Mateo County: Give jurors cookies and beverages; speeches from "several judges."
• Santa Clara County: Give jurors coffee, tea, juice, pastries.
• Shasta County: Give jurors cookies, magnets, buttons and bookmarks, hang a banner on the front of the courthouse.
• Sonoma County: The court will give jurors magnets, buttons, and certificates of appreciation, as well as notepads, pens, and candy.
• Stanislaus County: Give jurors refreshments, including bottled water, muffins, and cookies.
• Ventura County: Give prospective jurors cookies and coffee, and have the presiding judge address them.
• Yolo County: Give jurors "souvenir items," including pens, bookmarks, mugs, magnets, wristbands, and certificates of appreciation, plus pastries, muffins, cookies, fresh fruit, coffee, and tea, and decorate the assembly room with banners and balloons.

—  Pam Smith