OT/Question regarding bailing on jury duty?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Ok, I'll admit it. I've never served jury duty a day in my life (and I'm 41 years old). In my house, those notices get thrown away.

Think of me as you wish, but I work for a living and don't have time for that. I'm not trying to sound harsh, but let them call the people that are unemployeed and living on unemployment assistance. After all, we're giving them money, let them earn it.

I don't mean to offend anyone that's unemployeed, I've been there myself and wish that on no one. My point is that they have the time and there are plenty of folks to pool from (and they're being paid anyway).

[ullmandds]

nice David...I appreciate your candor...and right now I'm wishing I did the same thing!

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Ok, I'll admit it. I've never served jury duty a day in my life (and I'm 41 years old). In my house, those notices get thrown away.

Think of me as you wish, but I work for a living and don't have time for that. I'm not trying to sound harsh, but let them call the people that are unemployeed and living on unemployment assistance. After all, we're giving them money, let them earn it.

I don't mean to offend anyone that's unemployeed, I've been there myself and wish that on no one. My point is that they have the time and there are plenty of folks to pool from (and they're being paid anyway).

If you were to put on trial for something you didn't do (lets say wrong place at the wrong time and thus wrongfully accused), would you rather have employed jurors (with a stereotype of them being educated and hard working e.g. your peers) or unemployed jurors (stereotype being they are lazy and generally less-educated) deciding your fate? Just wondering

p.s. I know a LOT of unemployed people and while a few honestly want a job, most of them are content doing NOTHING but collecting that check from Uncle Sam. So maybe thats why I have a stereotype in my head of the average unemployed person. No insult intended to those who actually WANT a job but just can't find one or are down on their luck.

[ullmandds]

Rob G...I was thinking along similar lines...and I agree with most of what u said!!!!!

[ibuysportsephemera]

Man this thread is teetering on becoming a runaway train.

Jeff

[rdwyer]

My doctor was nice enough to write a short note saying Jury Duty would be detrimental to my mental health. Worked like a charm. Haven't got a notice for 3 years now.

[ullmandds]

Not even close to that...yet?!

[HRBAKER]

Some parts of responsible citizenship are more inconvenient than others.

[packs]

I got called for Jury Duty once. I never even got interviewed because they picked the jury before they got to me. I was happy to collect 40 bucks for doing nothing. I was between college semesters at the time and had nothing better to do. I was actually kind of disappointed I didn't get picked.

[DaveW]

I too got a Jury Summons that I forgot about. A few months later, I got a sternly worded letter demanding that I come in or face fines and/or jail time. I went as instructed and was promptly put on a jury. We spent one entire week trying to decide if some guy pulled his wife's hair before she slapped him (spousal abuse) or after she slapped him (self defense). Neither the husband or wife would testify (and neither spoke English anyway). It was kind of a waste of time, but interesting to see the system in progress. I hope you get a shorter, more interesting case.

[tbob]

Everyone is missing the key here: the key is the court administrator. She (90% of the time) is the one who can let you out of jury duty or keep you in. There are legitimate reasons for being excused from jury duty (being self-employed and there being no one else capable or able to run the business and direct employees, physical handicaps, etc.) and some not so legitimate ones ( being buddies with the judge, etc.). That said, it gets so tiring to walk in to a courtroom to select a jury during voir dire and see that the jury panel is composed of the elderly, the "professional jurors" who have no jobs and no life other than being a juror or the delightful experience of representing an African-American or Hispanic client in a criminal case and seeing 100% Caucasian faces.
A savvy court administrator can shrink the jury panel in many ways, a good one is gold, a poor one is trouble. Most judges let the administrators deal with the people who call and want to be excused. It's a lot of power in the hands of a person who has no accountability.

[bbcard1]

It is important if you decide to walk out of court to grab your junk and at least make some slur toward the judge's ancestory. This will yield the most dramatic result.

[ullmandds]

In retrospect...I probably could have gotten out of this had I made up a story about me being the only DDS at my office...next time!!!!!

A possible solution to the problem u state, Bob, would be to make it so that employers can not "penalize" their employees when they are called to jury duty.

[ullmandds]

Zach...I have considered that angle as well...but it is my impression that if u are picked for a jury...you then get interviewed...and if after the interview...they don't want you in the jury(for whatever reason)...they send you back to the waiting area where you must remain until they either send u home...or u get selected for a different case.

This is the impression I got?!

[zljones]

Or you can do as Homer Simpson said in one of the "Simpsons" episodes, "The key to beating jury duty is to say you are prejudice against all races."

[howard38]

.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Ok, I'll admit it. I've never served jury duty a day in my life (and I'm 41 years old). In my house, those notices get thrown away.

Think of me as you wish, but I work for a living and don't have time for that. I'm not trying to sound harsh, but let them call the people that are unemployeed and living on unemployment assistance. After all, we're giving them money, let them earn it.

I don't mean to offend anyone that's unemployeed, I've been there myself and wish that on no one. My point is that they have the time and there are plenty of folks to pool from (and they're being paid anyway).

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

If you were to put on trial for something you didn't do (lets say wrong place at the wrong time and thus wrongfully accused), would you rather have employed jurors (with a stereotype of them being educated and hard working e.g. your peers) or unemployed jurors (stereotype being they are lazy and generally less-educated) deciding your fate? Just wondering

I have never had jury duty, but I have always wanted to be summoned just to see how it all works first hand.

After reading David James thoughts I was thinking the same thing as you Rob. Then the more I thought about it I realized I wouldn't want David on my jury either.
The reason I say that is because I would rather have people there that care to be there and are willing to be "Juror 8" (Twelve Angry Men). I want someone who is willing to take the time to discuss the facts of the case.

[FrankWakefield]

DDS....

A range of possibilities are out there for you if you bail on jury duty. From nothing happening, to jail. Now that you've posted here about it, "I forgot" will be pretty weak...

I saw a federal judge send marshals to get a lady, and after a short discussion, she went to jail for 30 days, he let her out after about 2 weeks. He was the first federal judge I ever saw on the bench. It was sobering.

At times I let jurors slide with it if their absence caused no problems. A few times I kept a juror around to attend the trial, even though they weren't on the panel. I recall doing that once when it was painfully obvious to everyone that the juror answered initial questions in a way to get stricken... I allowed the attorneys motion to strike, but explained to the panel member what I was doing and let them sit through the trial. That panel came back twice more to hear trials, that panel member gave forthright answers to the questions upon returning. I never jailed a panel member for not showing, but did send the sheriff out to find a few jurors over the years.

As a panel member, it is not your place to decide you'd not be a fair juror and you shouldn't sit for trial; it's ok to have an opinion about that, but it isn't your decision. The parties, lawyers, and judge decide that. I gotta figure when a patient sits in that dental chair it is the DDS who decides things, after entertaining the patient's opinions. A patient who wants a good tooth pulled probably won't talk a good dentist into doing that...

Personally, I think you should serve, or you should have gotten off of the panel at the beginning.

Unanimous verdict doesn't mean an 11-1 majority jams a decision down on someone... A jury isn't a committee.