<p>I pick juries and try civil cases for a living and I find this type of thread fascinating.</p>
<p>The jury system is one of the things that make American justice so special. In the county where I do most of my work, there are a great many naturalized citizens. Most of them seem to want to be on the jury, though not all. Recently, I had a jury comprised of people born in Afghanistan, Iran, Viet Nam, Israel, Ecuador, Korea and Peru. Just interviewing them about their feelings on the American system was an earful.</p>
<p>I find it sad that people try to get out of jury duty. I can understand that people have situations at a particular time that mean they can’t serve at on a jury then, but nobody is so busy that they could never serve. </p>
<p>I was called once for a manslaughter trial. I was let go but would have been interested in it because how often do you have a case where the defendant’s ex-wife AND former mother-in-law are being offered as alibi and character witnesses.</p>
<p>BCE,
Yes, you will know your jury dates months ahead, but you will not know if you will be involve in a murder trial or not. In my case many times it is a non-event, called in and found I don’t have to show. After 40 years, this is the first time for me to get even to a jury selection! So, there is no way you should buy a ticket just to get out of a jury selection. Had I done that, I would bought 20 tickets for one time use!^^^</p>
<p>Iloved,</p>
<p>You can answer the questionare in jury selection differently to make your chances to stay or leave. I wrote that “I hate drug dealers”, that makes me prejudiced against the defendent and the lawyer certainly will not allow such person on the jury. Had I not make that statement, I might very well be selected.</p>
<p>I really feel its important for good, thinking people to serve willingly on juries, otherwise how will YOU feel if YOUR case is before a jury? Attorneys and judges to their very best to present the evidence and allow the correct decision to be reached but it does require patience and time to sit on the jury and focus on the many issues and facts presented. It can indeed be a hardship and often rescheduling is possible if you request it. Long trials are especially tough on solo business owners but it IS a cornerstone of democracy and it’s a very important thing to remember.</p>
<p>Shannon, you are extremely insulting! Some of us think of it as an honor and privilege to serve as a juror instead of something to get “out of.” I know I could easily have gotten disqualified if I had wanted to, but I honestly thought it would be an interesting experience and am glad to have served. The judge’s wife did NOT feel bossed around but also felt she was doing her civic duty in serving, as have all the many dozens of jurors I have spoken with. I have great respect for the many who serve willingly, knowing many could have weaseled out if they chose. Just because not all of us are searching for ways to evade serving does NOT mean we are incompetent, thank goodness! If everyone tried to evade service, our system of justice would never work properly.</p>
<p>In any case, Shannon, don’t worry, I would NEVER accept you as a client.</p>
<p>Too, folks who would go to the extreme of booking airline tickets to avoid jury duty should make sure their flight is one way…to a place like North Korea where no one has to worry about serving on a jury of peers!</p>
<p>I’ve had jury duty 3 times in my life, and all three times I was chosen for a jury. The last time was a highly publicized case of attempted murder for hire. It ran for a month, and it was fascinating. I “got out” of jury duty when my children were infants, and my husband was released from a case before selection because it was supposed to run for several weeks, and he is self-employed and it would have caused economic hardship.So I understand economic reasons for not wanting to serve. </p>
<p>On my last case, lots of people got out of serving for totally lame reasons. Those of us who were finally chosen were kind of irritated about that, but we concluded that someone who comes up with flimsy reasons to avoid it probably would make lousy jurors anyway. I think that was the judge’s reasoning as well. We wound up with an incredibly diverse group of people who all took the job seriously. It was a very rewarding experience.</p>
<p>jshain, I absolutely agree with you. If one considers it logically, it makes no sense to have such responsibility placed in the hands of individuals who have zero knowledge of the law, and in most cases, zero experience on a jury.</p>
<p>" I really feel its important for good, thinking people to serve willingly on juries, otherwise how will YOU feel if YOUR case is before a jury? "</p>
<p>I’ll tell ya what … if I was innocent I would refuse a Jury Trial and go with a ‘Bench / Jury-waived’ Trial. Why ?? Because I would be much less likely to be wrongly convicted by an impartial judge than by some moron juror who voted me ‘guilty’ because he didn’t “like my looks” or some other such foolishness</p>
<p>OTOH, if I was Guilty as Sin and the evidence of my guilt was obvious, I would go with a jury trial and hope that the jury was composed of the usual gang of idiots who were too stupid to get out of jury duty — like the juries in the O.J. Simpson or Casey Anthony trials …</p>
<p>I’ve been called a lot, gotten out of it a couple of times for good reasons, and I’ve served. May I say justice was swift and justice was fierce!</p>
<p>Oh and the $5 is for those who do not have a job. It is not a minimum wage question, you’re job still pays you for the day. You then give the job the $5. No job, you keep the money. Jury duty is not a job but a civic duty. Thank goodness for it if you ever put on trial.</p>
<p>For those who are interested, with some exceptions, pretty much ANY party to the lawsuit has the option of requesting a jury trial when they file or are brought into a lawsuit. This means that no individual party as the right to control whether a single judge or a jury determines the result of a case. Judges, of course do have significant control over what happens in their courtroom.</p>
<p>Most of the judges and attorneys I have worked and spoken with over the years have been impressed by the hard work and fair results in the jury trials they’ve been involved in. I am grateful that other citizens take this responsibility and privilege as seriously and I and others do. It is one of the important things that helps keep our country great! </p>
<p>Shirkers will always put down those who stand up and take responsibility–they should take a good look in the mirror and decide how proud they are and what image they’re projecting. What if they are brought into a lawsuit and are hoping to have an intelligent panel sworn so they can have a just result in their case? It can happen!</p>
<p>Are you SURE that you are actually an attorney ??</p>
<p>In criminal cases, it’s the DEFENDANT who gets to decide whether or not a Jury hears their case … or did you sleep thru that one in law school ??</p>
<p>In civil cases, the defendant doesn’t have a choice [ see my posts above ] … that’s why Shyster Lawyers love this system … because defendants settle cases rather than risk losing all their assets because of a jury made up of people too stupid to get out of jury duty … DUH !!!</p>
Well, we’ve established that ShannonEntropy isn’t lawyer and doesn’t understand the jury system. I guess we should all just be grateful that he will never serve on a jury adjudicating our own rights, since he’s obviously way too “intelligent” not to fail to get out of that task. </p>