The court can now start clearing a backlog of cases waiting to be tried since last year.

…for jury duty, that is. According to Mayor Vince Gray’s daily schedule, he’s set to be down at D.C. Superior Court for the majority of today fulfilling his civic responsibility and participating in jury duty.

Did you recently receive a summons for D.C. jury duty, but are hoping that a looming federal government shutdown might be your ticket to getting out of it? Don’t get too excited. WBJ’s Michael Neibauer reports that “All cases in the DC courts (criminal and civil) continue during a shutdown. Jurors will be expected to appear.” Sorry!

We get so used to reading stories about government-types sleeping on cots in their offices, believing that they need to carry handguns while they do walk around town and generally giving the “la, la, la, I can’t hear you” treatment to the entire city, that it actually warms our heart a little bit to know that there’s at least one member of the national leadership who doesn’t just give D.C. the time of day — but appears to actually like living here.