Jury Duty

[Bront]

I had no problem with Jury Duty other than I was working 3rd shift at the time so it was kind of rough having to rearange my schedule.

In my county, you are called in en-masse, and get to wait all day to see if they call you. I brought my laptop and played a lot of Tiger Woods golf. I did actualy walk to a court room, but they settled before we were brought in (The defense Atourny didn't think there were any jurrors left, so bluffed apparently)

 

[Gentlegamer]

It isn't jury duty, it is jury privilege.

 

[tarchon]

Much less of a privilege if you get stuck on a 4 week wrongful termination trial.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Jury privilege is the cornerstone of republican government. Remember, not only is the defendant on trial, the law is too.

 

[tarchon]

Jury privilege is the cornerstone of republican government. Remember, not only is the defendant on trial, the law is too.

It's a peculiarity of the English justice system. Most republican governments have nothing like it. I'd have to say that the idea of the law being on trial is diametrically opposed to the whole concept too. Juries are about finding fact, not determining the validity of the law. The judge interprets the law and gives you questions of fact which you have to answer. Even though juries do sometimes make findings based on whether they think a law is "right" or "fair," that's not what they're supposed to do and it's certainly not what they're instructed to do.

 

[kenobi65]

I've only been called for jury duty once. Wound up sitting in the juror pool room from 8:30am until 5:30pm; never got called. (Which turned out to be a good thing, as the only trial they were pulling from our pool room for was a murder trial, which would have been weeks.)

I wound up wishing I'd brought *more* reading material; I ran out of the stuff I brought by about 2pm. Look at it as a day to do that reading you say you want to catch up on, though it stinks that it's going to take up what would otherwise be a vacation day for you

Oh, and 100 degrees Fahrenheit is about 38 Celcius. Let's hope your courthouse has air conditioning.

 

[Hijinks]

I have at least three series of books to read

Don't worry, you'll get plenty read while waiting for the voie dire (sp?) process to finish, if you're chosen or if you have to stay and wait for them to dismiss you. Bring at least 2 books in case one gets boring


I was on a jury for a week (well, 2 juries within that week, actually) and I enjoyed it immensely. Of course, my work still paid me, so that had something to do with it.

 

[Aeson]

I was called for jury duty twice, two years in a row. I was picked for a stalking case the first time. No jury the second. I expect to be called again this year. Three years in a row YEA.

 

[Ranger REG]

Now you know why people hate jury duty, it is because they wait for you to be enjoying your life and have time to be happy to stuff you in a court room so you get frustrated and make your verdict in a hury to save the tax payers money so they can make sure the golden toilet seats stay clean. I must admit, it is one of our better government plans .

Maybe we citizens should volunteer for jury duty on our own term, like making an appointment.

Then again, someone could call for an appearance of impropriety on your part, like say you're eager to serve on a jury to convict some jerk named Eric Rudolph.

 

[Psionicist]

How does this jury thing work? Who decide / "assign" you to a specific case? Is it random or do they (whoever they are) actually go trough possible candidates? If yes, how can they know you are suited for the task and not the other guy? Do you have to attend?

Thanks!

/ Curiously confused Pswede