Former US president Barack Obama returned to the political stage at a rally for Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate on Oct. 19 and expressed his concern at the divisive, “nasty” state of US politics.
Now Obama will do his civic duty in Cook County, Illinois. Chief Judge Tim Evans told the Chicago Tribune that the former president—who has a house in Kenwood, Chicago—had been called upon for jury duty, and would appear next month. He didn’t say what date that would be or name the court’s location.
Evans said that Obama “made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen and resident of this community.”
It would seem Cook Country is not short of famous jurors: Oprah Winfrey and Mr. T have both served. Nor will Obama be the first ex-president to do be called upon: George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were both summoned for jury duty, though they weren’t selected. Neither was former vice president Joe Biden—he was called in January 2011, while still at the White House, but wasn’t picked as a juror in the end.