Like most other residents of San Francisco, I got summoned for jury service at the Hall of Justice,…read morewhich handles criminal cases. I lived in San Francisco for about two years before I received a notice in the mail. I had to postpone in the spring when I first received my badge because I had travel planned that coincided with my reporting week. I also had to update my full legal name on the juror portal, as it was not correct on the badge. A few weeks before my new reporting week, I received an updated badge in the mail displaying my correct legal name. I also noticed that the group number had changed. During my reporting week, I checked online and/or called in every day to check if I needed to go in. It wasn't until Thursday of my reporting week that my group was required to report. I ended up going Thursday and Friday of my reporting week for a half day each. Then I was back almost all day on Monday and Tuesday of the following week to continue the voir dire selection process. Ultimately, I was questioned and excused. Throughout the process, everyone I encountered from the judge to prosecution to defense was professional. If I would've been selected for the case, I would've had no issue working with anyone here at all. The reason for my average review is that the facilities, in contrast to the facilitators of the case, were quite unaccommodating. During breaks, there were an insufficient number of benches near the department we were in for people to rest, so many people resorted to squatting, standing, or sitting on the floor. The department seats were hard, wooden, and uncomfortable for long periods of sitting. Members of the court often showed up late. On one day, we were kept waiting 1 hour and 15 minutes outside the department from the time we were told to show up until we were finally let into the room. Although, I can request PTO hours at my company to still get compensated for the days I spent in court, they come with an opportunity cost. Every minute or hour I spend waiting around or engaged and focused on the case details or voir dire process represents time I could be anywhere else doing anything else, such as getting caught up on work. While I acknowledge jury service is a cornerstone of democracy, it seems like a high ask to require residents to put their lives on hold AND pay out of pocket for expenses including but not limited to public transportation or parking, meals, and drinks. I'm sure I'll get summoned for jury service again if I still live in San Francisco for years to come. I don't have any expectations that things will significantly improve much or at all between now and whenever I'm next summoned, but it would be great to see even some small positive changes.

Serves jury duty but was not selected. Big cattle call though. Wish I knew the case but ran into…read moremany acquaintances in the room.

So I'm definitely a little biased because I did get married here but the San Francisco City Hall is…read morea gorgeous building that takes your breath away the moment that you step inside. It's huge and the grand open dome makes it s feel almost palatial. The architecture is definitely the highlight here. There are marble floors, an amazing Grand staircase, and lots of little ornate details. It's also super busy because it is a working government building. They have tours and visitors and weddings going on so there are always a lot of people here and a lot going on. It can get really crowded, especially in the rotunda area. The two things that I have had to do here are the only things I can speak to and to be fair the process was fairly simple for both but there is a bit of a wait, just like any other government building I guess. Parking here was definitely a nightmare for me personally and the noise from all the people really echos and even gave me a headache on one visit, but the building is impressive and definitely worth visiting and if you have to conduct business here, be thankful because you could be in some 1970s portable somewhere.

San Francisco City Hall is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. I worked in the Civic…read moreCenter area for over ten years and walked past it daily, and it never got old. Even recently, when I stopped by to run a quick errand, I found myself slowing down just to take it all in again. Inside, it's just as impressive. The grand rotunda, marble staircase, and overall scale make it feel more like a historic landmark than a typical government building. During my last visit, there were several couples there for wedding ceremonies, which added a really positive and lively atmosphere with lots of happy faces. There's also a lot of history behind the building. The original City Hall was largely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, and the current one was designed by Arthur Brown Jr. in a Beaux-Arts style as part of the city's rebuilding effort. The dome is especially striking and even taller than the one at the United States Capitol. Over the years, the building has been reinforced, including major upgrades after the 1989 earthquake to help it better withstand future ones. Today, it's still a very active place, home to city offices, public services, and daily wedding ceremonies. It's also often used for events, photos, and even film shoots. At night, the building is sometimes lit up in different colors for holidays and special occasions, which is a nice touch. One quick (and slightly embarrassing) moment from my last visit: right after I walked into one of the offices to pick up a document, the building's alarm suddenly went off. For a second, I was convinced I had somehow triggered it. Thankfully, a staff member quickly reassured me it was just a fire alarm and told me to head outside. Definitely a moment of relief!

If you love turn of the century architecture the Ninth Circuit tour is the one to take. They just…read morerecently reopened for tours to the public. I went with a group but there's a set schedule each month to drop by and look around. Tours are free, courtesy of you, the taxpayer Such a beautiful building full of history!

I worked three blocks away over the years and never realized this building with so much history was…read moreright under my nose. The James R. Browning U.S. Courthouse is a National Historic Landmark was opened in 1905 and is considered one of America's most beautiful public buildings with its Beaux-Arts Classical architecture. It served as the main post office and courthouse and even survived the 1906 earthquake with only fire damage to the Redwood Room, hence it reopened two days later. However, the 1989 earthquake caused serious damage and Congress authorized $91mil for the retrofitting and rehabilitation of the building. It reopened in 1997 with modern HVAC, electrical and plumbing, rendering it to the standards of a new building, which now houses the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A 70 minutes free docent led tour is offered twice a month on Tuesdays at 1pm during the Spring and Summer, otherwise once a month. See the website at: https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000141. As with all Federal facilities, you need an ID and pass through security. Upon entering, you see the grandeur of the bronze doors, white Carrara marble on floors and walls, verde marble insets, vaulted ceilings, with marble tiles crafted by craftsmen from Italy. The postal customer service windows have been left in place. A new library building was built in the postal sorting area, which is accessed on the first floor. The four courtrooms are on the second and third floors and each have their own distinctive designs and sizes of Art Deco, marble, artwork, mosaics, woodwork and skylights. The docent will lead a tour into each courtroom unless court is in session. The Redwood Room was rebuilt after 1906 earthquake fire is completely clad in ornately clad redwood and was used as a library. Open a door and you will see books in shelves. We also saw the office used by visiting Supreme Court Justices and the chambers of Chief Justice Sidney Thomas. Remember to stop by the Information Room by the entrance for info on Justice James Browning and the Court. Highly recommend visiting this historical courthouse and be transported to the past to see architecture, design, materials and craftsmanship that you won't see in your modern buildings.

Not a happy place to visit…read more Not at all, especially if you are dressed up with sweaty palms and walking in with an uneasy feeling. Well, luckily this visit was not for that reason. I was there to file a small claims case which is no easy feat under current circumstances. The office is open weekdays from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. I came in just as they closed their doors and was fortunate to slip in to show my completed form to the clerk at the window. She quickly reviewed my papers and pointed out what was missing, erroneously written, and gave me instructions to properly file the case with them. I brought everything home and worked on it over the next few days. I returned on a Friday morning and found a line of three parties including myself waiting on two occupied counters. About fifteen minutes later, I was fortunate to see the kind lady who helped me the previous week. This time, my paperwork was complete, except that I omitted the final two pages which I thought were form letter pages that didn't need to be included. She kindly filled this void for me and helped me process my case. With my hearing difficulty and the masking situation not helping things, she was very patient in asking me questions in completing my transaction. Big thanks to Lorina for making my process a lot less straining and stressful. Now, we'll see how things go in October.

JUDGE SYLVIA HUSING IS MORALLY BANKRUPT AND A FRAUD. Years…read moreago, I was conned by an "intuitive mystic" who completely exploited my vulnerability, gave promises about her metaphysical capabilities, promised I was ensured by her integrity, and gave a moneyback guarantee. She said she worked with sound vibration and could do all this over phone calls, including healing Birth defects remotely. Everything she said was a lie, a half truth, or a manipulation of the truth, the "healing" was nothing more than highly sophisticated gaslighting. As part of this, she asked me to write to her in a highly detailed diary so she could also pray on it everyday. I was in the midst of a really hard time and didn't ask enough questions and did pretty much anything she asked of me, because I was so desperate to feel better, and saw no other light at the end of the tunnel. when I finally caught her lying/using constant manipulative tactics, I called her out angrily and demanded the money back, which she refused to return. After going to the police, she eventually agreed to return some of the money. Aware that she had been supplied with so much of my sensitive and personal information, I said she could keep it in exchange for a erasing my data. She promised to do this. It was years later when I found out she kept them anyway. Angry, I wrote a bad review about her, to which she began taunting me that she still had my writings, and removed me from one of the platforms so I couldn't access it, but continued to hold it hostage. In court, she admitted she did this vindictively, that she didn't like bad reviews. (Btw, this person does have a very good online presentation, and espouses values completely contradictory to how she truly is, as evinced by this experience.) -A wolf in sheep's clothing. The judge-SYLVIA HUSING, thought this was a perfectly acceptable answer. The defendant stood there and implicated herself, on many things, including charging me bank fees that didn't exist. She contradicted herself, had no rational answers that made any sense, and was totally inconsistent with her story, where she even bothered to explain it, because truthfully, Husing didn't ask her much. I told Husing that the DA and the Attorney General already knew who she was, but because of the statute of limitations couldn't do anything about it and had advised me to go to court. I wasn't concerned about the money, but about the writings and how she could further exploit them. I asked her if she could help me with this, she told me no, go get a lawyer. I asked her, but can't you ask her if she's erased them under oath? The judge ignored the question. She dismissed it on a statute of limitations issue, although the harassment and blackmail was in the present. I told her that by law, I had four years to sue upon the discovery of fraud, she said it wasn't true (it is). I told her that the Attorney General had told me that businesses are to erase all data upon request from the customer, and she said this was only for big businesses, which seemed to actually exonerate her behavior. it didn't need to be said, even if it was the truth. husing ignored all salient points of the case, said nothing about her behavior, and focused on trivial things that had nothing to do with the larger issue. I told her I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with that being held over my head, with the defendant blackmailing me to be silent (I'd taken down the review until I could get some further help.) again she said go get a lawyer. I work in education and don't have tens of thousands of dollars to hire a lawyer, when all she had to do was ask her under oath and document somewhere that she had erased my writing. Whether or not money was awarded, we were in a place of judgment, and she could've said something about her abhorrent behavior at any point. The defendant, who I am not ready to name because of this issue, is a bully and a fraud. As we were leaving court, the defendant told me she would never ever ever give me proof she had erased anything and dared me to write another review, most of it in front of the judge. Husing said nothing. Judge Husing wants to allow someone to blackmail me into silence by exploiting my trust and vulnerability? Good, she can take her place. She is a retired judge, and one article said she retired without controversy. It is one thing to be neutral, it's another to be indifferent and have no moral compass when that's your vocation, that's pretty controversial. One day, the defendant is going to bully somebody to suicide, or take advantage of a cancer patient or a lonely, elderly man surviving off of his Social Security check with her BS. The judicial council has done nothing. Judge Sylvia Husing is not honorable, and stands behind disgusting, abhorrent crimes. One sentence, one question would've helped me. There was no justice. It was one fraud supporting another. SF is scraping the bottom of the barrel for judges.

Jury duty info: - They validate parking for the Civic Center…read moregarage (diagonally across the street, under the park/plaza), currently $9 for the biz day. There's also another validated garage a few blocks away (not sure of their rate). - Jury assembly room is in the basement, where cell reception is super iffy. The free wifi is unsecured/unencrypted, so I'd advise some caution if using it. - Cell reception is fine on higher floors if you get called to an actual court room.

Not great experience ! I live few blocks by City hall and I had to report to Bryant street court…read morehouse. No problem no Covid restrictions. Everything was delayed and once we had to fill out a very long questionnaire asking very personal questions that I don't even remember the dates and I don't feel right to disclose. Ok I did do my best. My main complaint is their disrespect for me and my time. I was notified at 4 pm today I was not required to report on Monday Then I am being told I may have to be a jury on a trial from May 2nd to June 3rd. Can you please let me know if I am in or not sooner than May 2nd? I have no problem doing my duty but needless to say I also work full time and due to the pandemic haven't taken any vacations. It would be great to respect people's time and let them know in advance if they are needed or not so they can plan ahead for vacation or work coverage,

This is a review of the Restraining Order court on Friday…read more The judge refused to closely examine the evidence I painstakingly collected, and then told me I hadn't proved my case. Total waste of time, money, and the hopes that the harassment I've been suffering will stop went down their nice clean toilet. Avoid this total kangaroo court. Get lawyer and sue. It will be worth it.

The security guards are nasty, and don't use verbs to communicate. Most importantly, what kind of…read morebullshit legal system coerces jurors to participate under threat of law, and offers shit for pay that isn't forthcoming? Finally, the juror summons and selection process was the most terrorizing experience I've ever gone through because, straight out of the gate, the system ignored my unwillingness to participate in the problems it demanded I resolve.

First time here and they take Security and Social Distancing seriously so if they have a line…read more Just be patient and wait your turn and be prepared to take all electronics off and your purse backpack and even your shoes off and put them in the basket, then you take your basket run it through and then take it and walk to the right and they have a place where you can sit get all your stuff out and then give them the basket back. This place is huge and very clean and they have a cafeteria but it wasn't opened today and i even used the bathroom and someone was cleaning everything and making sure was disinfected so were all safe from any GERMS ESPECIALLY COVID! Thanks for reading my Review ~Lizzie~

I've never stepped foot inside the building itself, but when I was on the jury of a month-long…read moretrial in fall 2013, I had to find different ways to spend my lunch hours, which were too long. I did what most people do, I think: First, I hung out with my fellow jurors. Then it felt a little too close and too big, especially with all 15 of us (there were alternates), so we started hanging out in smaller groups. Then there were just days when I needed to be by myself, especially as the trial got close to finishing, so I would grab food at one of the half-dozen places I now knew too well, and I would wander around the Civic Center and the TL and find places that were clean and safe. The Burton Federal Building (not where my trial was being held) doesn't really have a proper courtyard, but it has this huge underground parking lot combined with the most hardened-looking terrorism-proof tree-planter barrier system I've ever seen. On and around all that mess, there are beautiful benches and some interesting design details in wood, concrete, and metal. I'm probably making it sound more interesting than it is, but this was my full-time job for more than a month, so I craved daily quiet and solitude after having to listen to medical experts and attorneys go on and on for hours each day. The benches are almost always clean, and there are federal workers out here eating their lunches in their frumpy and/or snazzy work attire. They should film movies and TV shows set in the '80s like The Americans here, although they'd have to blur some of the background stuff because it looks too contemporary. The skaters try. They get chased away by the omnipresent security, but they try nevertheless. Different skaters each day, too. That was a revelation, for some reason. It's neat to explore, but don't make a day of it. It's tiny. Just if you happen to be here. OK, I don't know why you would happen to be here, but if you have jury duty, get your lunch to go and bring it out here one day or three. You'll like it. I hope.

Update: After being declared innocent via trial by de novo on 12/20/2011, I was due for a refund…read moreand should have my points cleared. On March 1st, I get my insurance renewal slip, and my policy has increased due to having the point on my record for which has been cleared. I then go on the DMV site to purchase a digital copy of my driving record, and noticed the point has not been cleared. I didn't really care for my refund, but I wanted this off my record. I came back to the courts today, and they simply cleared my record and sent off a refund check. However this should have been done 3 months ago and now I have to pay for another driving record to prove to my insurance company that it's been cleared. Now I don't even know if they'd still be able to reduce my policy before renewal. tldr: police hand out phoney citations, written trial doesn't help cause they don't read it, their phones never work, found innocent after second trial to receive refund and points cleared, 3 months later, records still not cleared, refunds not disbursed, point still on record and insurance rates increased.

I drive *a lot* in San Francisco, every weekday, mainly bringing my son to school and back,…read moresometimes crossing the city four times in doing so. If/when you are cited for a moving violation, my advice is to communicate with the officer, be reasonable, and speak frankly about what is going on (in your bigger picture / life). They are people too and just might be understanding. (In my case I was extremely distracted and upset because I had just heard some distressing news and then absently made a right turn when I shouldn't have.) My officer was extremely kind and compassionate. I did have to go to the court house three times (three separate appointments to get through the entire process) but I paid $0 and the violation was dismissed.