I've seen it referred to as

the Taj Mahal. I've read about its opening earlier this year to accommodate

several county offices. But until Monday I had not felt the pain of the

new $32 million Fayette County Justice Center.

Yep, real pain. More about

that in a minute.

The summons was "to lay

aside all business" and show up at 8:30 a.m. Monday to serve in a

pool of prospective jurors. Turns out it was for some civil cases in Fayette

State Court, the "junior" court in the new courthouse.

My first experience with the

newest government monument was the interesting maze of arrowed driveways

leading to the palatial building off Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard in Fayetteville.

Parking abounds, acres of asphalt.

Inside, I first mistook the

uniforms and metal-detecting machines that greet all entering taxpayers

as a mistaken trip to the Atlanta Airport and antiterrorist headquarters,

but, no, I was still in Fayette County, Toto. (You remember taxpayers,

don't you: those under-appreciated souls who are paying on the installment

plan for this giant monument to caution first and justice later?)

There were at least four deputies

guarding the entrance to the mahogany-railinged hall, while three or four

more stood watch over us waiting jurors-to-be upstairs. I admit: We were

a dangerous-looking bunch. Some even wore shorts.

Just like at the airport, we

had to dump our pocket items and send parcels through the detectors. I

asked, "You won't allow this through?" The pocket Swiss Army

gizmo held one wicked one-and-one-half-inch blade, so rather than face

its confiscation as a threat to national security, I walked it