how do you feel about jury duty?

[strollingbones]

someday i will figure out how jurors are selected...

my husband has petit jury duty in the western district. he was to call in may 4th or the friday precending after 5 pm....we call....dont report but call back next friday...say what? petit jury is a 3 week time period..now bear in mind, we are about 1.45 mintues from asheville....so we call friday...call back this tuesday after 5 pm...what are the chances we are gonna remember this stuff...

so do you do jury duty or do you do your best to get out of it?

myself, i do it....i was so happy when they took the little old lady in front of me....i got credit for doing nothing...but i got a 2 year pass...which apparently if you do jury duty for any the state or local....you get a free 2 pass from both. i have been called twice since we have lived here....my husband has served and been called more than 8 times....my son has been called 3 times but has moved out of the county.

 

[editec]

O am offended that they pay jurors so little for that service, to be frank.

 

[strollingbones]

o the pay ....dont even mention that....i got 16 dollars last time i served....a day...but the petit pays some type of travel

 

[editec]

Here in Waldo County it is not untypical for a juror (I think it's like $21 buck a day) to come out of the court to discover that they have parking tickets with fines which exceed their daily pay.

Meanwhile the judges and lawyers are making huge bucks.

Screw that.

 

[Skull Pilot]

personally, I believe we should move to a professional jury system.

People trained in logic and legal procedure representing an unbiased cross section of the population would be better jurors than some Podunk redneck with a 5th grade education or a person who resents the fact that he has to take days weeks or months out of his life to sit on a jury.

 

[strollingbones]

personally, I believe we should move to a professional jury system.

People trained in logic and legal procedure representing an unbiased cross section of the population would be better jurors than some Podunk redneck with a 5th grade education or a person who resents the fact that he has to take days weeks or months out of his life to sit on a jury.

and that was directed to whom? or just in general....how many companies allow you to turn in your juror's pay then pay you ..your regular pay?

 

[editec]

personally, I believe we should move to a professional jury system.

Agreed. Flies int he face of "trial by a jury of your peers", but given that many of us are peerless when we are measured against what most juries look like, I think the time has come to at least CONSIDER such an idea.

People trained in logic and legal procedure representing an unbiased cross section of the population would be better jurors than some Podunk redneck with a 5th grade education or a person who resents the fact that he has to take days weeks or months out of his life to sit on a jury.

Well among other things if that system is designed correctly they're not likely to be intimidated by judges like MOST juries are.

If they think that the witness is a liar or the evidence is dubious or the law is wrong on its face, they won't CARE (assuming they have job security) if the judge tells them they MUST give what they find offensive a pass.

 

[Sky Dancer]

My experience with jury duty is like waiting an airport because your filight is delayed and then finding out it's been canceled.

I've been called to serve many times but never selected. Sigh...always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

 

[Iriemon]

Jury duty sucks but I view it as a civic duty to do as a citizen when called to serve.

 

[WillowTree]

personally, I believe we should move to a professional jury system.

People trained in logic and legal procedure representing an unbiased cross section of the population would be better jurors than some Podunk redneck with a 5th grade education or a person who resents the fact that he has to take days weeks or months out of his life to sit on a jury.

We can't manage to keep judges who are trained in logic and legal procedure "unbiased" it would be impossible to do so with jury members.. this is a bad bad idea.

 

[KittenKoder]

I never have to do it, get dismissed every time. I send my reply card back with, "Hell yeah, I would love to send another scumbag criminal to jail." They always call back and say they don't need me.

 

[strollingbones]

the last one i got called on....was too sillie...it was civil and they were fussing over a tree stand....if i had had to serve i would have been in jail for contempt...dont treat me like i am stupid till i prove i am...and dont talk down to me...i dont give a flying fuck who you are...i am there giving up a day or more's pay with my boss asking when i am coming back to work...listening to total bullshit...one guy...got excused cause he was a christian and couldnt judge anyone...damn i nearly had to bite my tongue off to shut up on that little comment and all...

way i see it...as a taxpayer, i am paying all their mothering salaries in some form or fashion...direct taxes, indirect taxes and levies ...so forth and so on....and i am there over a mother deer tree stand????

 

[alan1]

I served as a juror on a murder case once. The murderer was a 15 year old kid being tried as an adult. The case wasn't about innocence or guilt, it was to determine if it was 1st degree or 2nd degree murder. My oldest daughter was 15 at the time.
9 of us 12 on the jury openly wept as we announced our verdict. Guilty, 1st degree murder. After the case was over, I swore to myself that I would never sit on a jury for a 15 year old kid again. It flat out sucked.

 

[KittenKoder]

I served as a juror on a murder case once. The murderer was a 15 year old kid being tried as an adult. The case wasn't about innocence or guilt, it was to determine if it was 1st degree or 2nd degree murder. My oldest daughter was 15 at the time.
9 of us 12 on the jury openly wept as we announced our verdict. Guilty, 1st degree murder. After the case was over, I swore to myself that I would never sit on a jury for a 15 year old kid again. It flat out sucked.

I am biased for the cops all the time so I'm no good in a court. I always side with what the cop says, period, and don't even care about the rest of the evidence. I have befriended too many cops and feel too sorry for the crap they go through.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I served as a juror on a murder case once. The murderer was a 15 year old kid being tried as an adult. The case wasn't about innocence or guilt, it was to determine if it was 1st degree or 2nd degree murder. My oldest daughter was 15 at the time.
9 of us 12 on the jury openly wept as we announced our verdict. Guilty, 1st degree murder. After the case was over, I swore to myself that I would never sit on a jury for a 15 year old kid again. It flat out sucked.

That sounds completely traumatic. I'm so sorry for your experience and for the whole situation.

I knew a boy who killed his older brother when he was 15 over an argument about drugs. I knew his family--they had come to practice meditation with us for years, and I knew the boy as quiet and sweet. He went camping with us, and he was very close to the Lama.

The boy's mother was quite crazy, but he relied on his connection to his father. When his father contracted brain cancer and died, this boy was left alone with his mother, who ended up committing suicide.

We lost touch with him when he was with his mother--she would not return phone calls and we did not know where they lived.

Very sad these situations.

 

[Skull Pilot]

personally, I believe we should move to a professional jury system.

People trained in logic and legal procedure representing an unbiased cross section of the population would be better jurors than some Podunk redneck with a 5th grade education or a person who resents the fact that he has to take days weeks or months out of his life to sit on a jury.

We can't manage to keep judges who are trained in logic and legal procedure "unbiased" it would be impossible to do so with jury members.. this is a bad bad idea.

Since judges are appointed by politicians who are more concerned with their own quest for power and influence, why on earth do you expect judges to be unbiased?

We should go back to electing judges so they are actually representing the people.

And it'd a better idea to have a panelof jurors picked not because they are reasonable, intelligent people but rather because they don't read the newspapers or are of a certain race or gender?

Are people who do not understand the science of evidentiary procedure and forensics are better than people with a working knowledge of forensics and who will not be confused by so called expert testimony?

 

[PoliticalChic]

If they would make the the whole process less painful, more people would be willing to serve. Compensation for jury duty should be raised. People think of it as an intolerable chore they need to get out of.

 

[alan1]

I served as a juror on a murder case once. The murderer was a 15 year old kid being tried as an adult. The case wasn't about innocence or guilt, it was to determine if it was 1st degree or 2nd degree murder. My oldest daughter was 15 at the time.
9 of us 12 on the jury openly wept as we announced our verdict. Guilty, 1st degree murder. After the case was over, I swore to myself that I would never sit on a jury for a 15 year old kid again. It flat out sucked.

That sounds completely traumatic. I'm so sorry.

Probably one of the worst experiences of my life.
Oh, and the 3 that didn't shed tears----they didn't have children of their own.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I served as a juror on a murder case once. The murderer was a 15 year old kid being tried as an adult. The case wasn't about innocence or guilt, it was to determine if it was 1st degree or 2nd degree murder. My oldest daughter was 15 at the time.
9 of us 12 on the jury openly wept as we announced our verdict. Guilty, 1st degree murder. After the case was over, I swore to myself that I would never sit on a jury for a 15 year old kid again. It flat out sucked.

That sounds completely traumatic. I'm so sorry.

Probably one of the worst experiences of my life.
Oh, and the 3 that didn't shed tears----they didn't have children of their own.

I've never given birth, nor do I have children of my own, but I would have shed tears.

 

[Phoenix]

Did jury duty just out of high school.

Local guy murdered his 60-some-year-old neighbor lady for a few bucks.

It was very intimidating, as I was by far the youngest on the jury. The process, while interesting, was also tedious. But I found the forensics part fascinating.