Jury Duty

The law prohibits employers from punishing or terminating employees because of jury duty, but it doesn't require them to pay you the day(s) you're there. I don't think mine does...I will have to check tomorrow.

My problem is that one day isn't much of an issue. Multiple days, yes, and if I'm selected I will definitely point that out and I'll be released.

I'm border-line, though. I'm irritated because they expect people to skip work and somehow they think offering you ten or twenty bucks will make it all better. On the other hand, since a day really isn't a big deal, I feel like I should at least go for one day to see what the story is instead of formulating an excuse to weasel my way out of it.

But I don't want to go.

i was on jury duty once. Incredibly dull civil trial. A girl was sitting in a pizza parlor and one of those heavy red pepper shakers fell off a railing from the second floor (two story restaurant), hit her on the head, and knocked her unconscious.
She claimed she was suffering all kinds of physical problems as a result.

They'd kick me out for bias on that one. "Your honor, unless the victim shows medical evidence that she's been traumatized, and she can justify a lawsuit based on an accident, she can fuck right off. Your honor, sir."

Ah yes, but in order for a jury to be impaneled, those questions would have been already answered in the affirmative.

Pray one of the lawyers flips out a la "...And Justice For All"

Damn you and your knowledge. Can you honestly sue a restaurant because someone there (be it employee or patron) accidentally knocked a pepper shaker over a balcony?

Can I get out of jury duty by telling the judge to "suck a dick sideways" - or would that just land me in contempt?

I'm serving on a jury RIGHT NOW. It's a big, big trial here, apparently it's all over the news, and I'm going to be in court for three or four weeks. Seems like the lawyers waste a shit-ton of time on totally irrelevant questions, minutiae that doesn't go anywhere. I almost want to scream at them, GET TO THE FUCKING POINT! But how can I complain, I'm getting paid by the court and by my job, so it's not a bad situation. I only hope I can make the right decision in the end, because so far a lot of this has been shades of gray with no solid evidence on either side. I'll be really depressed if I don't feel like I came up with the right verdict...

Well the trouble is it will always be a financial burden. They don't care about that in the least, it's still your duty as a citizen. If financial burden was an excuse then only rich people would have to serve and we know how well that would work.

The worst is when you're a student like me and they want you to come while you're in college. That's classes that you've already paid for and can't get that money back. Now that should be an excuse. But they didn't care for that either.

But in any event, just become the biggest racist in the world. Hate everyone.

That's not true, lots of judges do care if it'll be a financial burden. For longer trials, you can be excused for that reason.

And everyone always says just be racist... That really doesn't work when the defendant is the same race as you.

What case is this?

Homer: So what were we talking about?
Bart:Uh... You were telling me about the time you beat jury duty.
Homer: *chuckles* Oh yeah... The trick is to tell them that you're prejudiced against all races.

It would depend on the circumstances, but yeah. Negligence is a pretty elastic concept.

Not sure. You should try it!*

I've always wanted to be on a jury, but that's got to be one fucked up trial if I make it all the way through jury selection.

I have always wanted to be on a jury but because of what I do, I am not allowed so my name has been pulled from whatever pool they put you in.

Damn it. My company pays you while you're on jury duty. Most people would say "sweet! paid to sit around and watch Court TV!" Naw, see, when I have to sit in one place for eight hours straight, I go insane. What's worse is that no matter how much I've slept, I'll start to get tired and it's difficult for me to stay awake. That would be peaches - to fall asleep in the jury booth.

"Juror number 12, please remain awake for the remainder of the trail. That is, if you don't mind!"

It depends on what kind of trial. Some are bound to be more interesting than others, I suppose. Mine was deadly dull. I think I nodded off a few times (or came very close). Listening to lawyers explain the same thing over and over and over. Yawn

The judge was very cool about excusing potential jurors from the trial for financial reasons (once the selection process had been whittled down to about twenty people)

I hope that either a) I'm just not selected or b) we try some crack head for stealing babies to fund his habit, put him away in a couple of hours, and are out in time to grab some lunch.

Here's my long, rambling jury duty experience...

I got called for jury duty once, October 2001. Took my day off of work, went to the court house, and had to fill out a 75-page questionnaire. What magazines did I read, the last 5 movies I saw, who were my top 5 heroes, have I ever been married, do I believe in psychics, etc. It was a cross between every MySpace poll you'll ever get and a census form. Finished up, and was told I'd have to report back in December.

Went back in December on a Monday, for what turned out to be a massive jury-selection process. 600 or so people (some of whom had been rounded up by sheriffs when they hadn't shown up). I was number 150 or so, and they went in numerical order, spending on average about 15 minutes a person. I was required to show up every day for 8 hours of this, even though it was obvious they weren't going to get to me until near the end of the week. So, I got lots of crossword puzzles done.

When I finally got on the hot seat that Friday, I expected to be booted quickly-- long hair, combat boots, my questionnaire showed that I'd never gone to high school, etc. Instead, I was the last person selected-- nos. 151-600 were sent home after they finished with me-- and we were sworn in as a jury. We were given until January 1 to get our affairs in order, before driving 100 miles south to be sequestered to hear a multiple murder case. We ended up being there nearly 3 months... and that was tailed by CBS News, eventually being featured in several episodes of 48 Hours, and that ended up being documented in a true-crime paperback.

It was interesting to do; I liked finally seeing the intricacies of the justice system. It was horrifying to do; I saw evidence that still gives me nightmares. After an apparently record-setting deliberation period, we found the defendant guilty, and were immediately put under a gag order-- the inevitable appeals that were to go on hinged on evidentiary problems that were said to have tainted our decision. We were also escorted by police afterwards for our safety, as the defendant's family (locally powerful) apparently posed a threat. We weren't able to speak about the case beyond inspecific soundbites for several years; the state supreme court threw out our decision, the guy was freed, rearrested, retried, and found guilty again after a few more years' wait. Not being able to talk about the trial for a few years ended up giving most of the jurors problems-- I know a few of us ended up in therapy, and a few marriages dissolved. When a friend and I recently traveled through the area on the way to Louisville KY, I had a nice little breakdown.

My job paid me my full salary when I was gone, and I got to keep the spproximately $2500 jury duty pay as well... which got me out of debt and paid for my first semester in college. After the trial, the victims' family and the prosecuting attorneys had taken me aside to make sure I planned to go to school... so I did. I've done well thus far, but sometimes it still hits me hard that the only reason I'm finally "succeeding" in life is because a woman and her two children were shot to death a hundred miles south...

Anyway. I'd do it again. I vote, I pay my taxes, but that was the first time that I felt like I was doing my actual duty as a citizen. It was important, and I'm proud that I was able to do my part. And the jury duty pay, though low, was a windfall since it came on top of my salary; and, for those three months, the state paid for my food and drink, and utility usage at my three-months-vacant apartment were non existent... so I saved another pile of money there. Win-win.

I'll run to Mexico if I get stuck with a trial like that. It's closer than Canada.

That's pretty much what I think, too. But the other part of me says "I don't waaaaaaaaant to go!"

From a journal entry last year.