<p>I got dismissed from the selection process when the defense atty asked me my opinion on racial profiling and police brutality.</p>
<p>Sounds like at least you only had to go for one day? Here you have to show up every day for a week to do the hall sitting routine.</p>
<p>I’m a litigation attorney. I can assure you there is nothing much that is efficient about the Court system. I routinely get called for jury duty, can’t get excused any longer in our City, have to show, always get bumped from the panel once they learn I’m an attorney, so days always wasted.</p>
<p>the real easy solution to all this in my view is that if it were mandatory that the losing party has to pay all Court costs, attorney and jury fees, etc. people would think long and hard about filing all the nonsense suits that get filed or defending matters that truly have no defense (sorta like defending my profession which is not real easy to do).</p>
<p>I guess the greatest irony for me is that in 30 years of litigation work, I’ve never requested a jury in any case i’ve handled. Never made much sense to me having 12 ****ed off people who don’t want to be there deciding the outcome of the case.</p>
<p>I’ll give them credit - it’s more tolerable and efficient than it used to be in this county (San Diego). I remember when it was a week of hall-sitting. Now it’s one day and if one isn’t selected for a jury (or empaneled in the midst of a multi-day courtroom jury selection process), one is free to go after that first day and doesn’t need to serve again (in that county superior court) for a year. If they actually serve on a jury or went through 3 days being empaneled in a courtroom but were dismissed, they don’t need to serve again for 3 years (the only county in California not at 1 year). </p>
<p>They’re also tolerant on the start date - one can just show up within a 2 week window before and after without having to call in.</p>
<p>And I discovered that the thing to do is to always delay up to 6 months (which they allow) which effectively makes it 1.5 years between services rather tha only 1 year.</p>
<p>You make perfect sense to me bullwinkle.</p>
<p>I get called regularly but never get chosen. I even got to fill out that 30+ page form for the Martha Stewart jury!</p>
<p>I don’t want to make a total defense of the system, because that would be indefensible, but I do want people to realize that just because a court might start at 10 a.m. and seemingly take an hour and a half for lunch, and then finish at 3:30 p.m., that doesn’t mean that the court personnel have gone for a siesta.
Judges carry more than one case at a time and may be conferencing with lawyers, hearing motions, etc. Our county allows a phone in system where you are assigned a number and call the court early in the morning and you are told whether you have to appear. It is called a “phone alert” system. And it is true that sometimes the only thing that will spur a criminal to take a plea is the thought of those jurors sitting in the box. If we did not permit alleged criminals to “take a plea” after a certain point in time, or permit civil suits to be settled, there are many jurisdictions in this country which would have waiting times of years and years for people to have “their day in court.” It could be any one of us. Full disclosure: I am a former prosecutor.</p>
<p>As they were determining who could serve for how long it made me start to be concerned for some eventual day when I might retire (some time after my double-college-paying duty is done). If one’s company only pays, for example, 10 days of jury duty, then they’ll only get placed on a case expected to end in less than 10 days. As I looked around me at those who were retired, I realized that if I was one of them I’d lack that particular excuse and could get stuck on a multi-week or multi-month case. OTOH maybe when I retire I’ll be more interested in having something like this to do although I imagine doing other things in retirement.</p>
<p>And all of the people who work for any government entity, including public school teachers, college professors (one prof was there who seemed to not be able to comprehend the rules that were stated-haha), postal employees, etc. all fell into the > 10 day section since their employers all paid for greater than 10 days. They also don’t get paid the paltry juror duty pay since the governator changed the rules since they’d have to pay if back anyway since they’re gov employees (one efficiency change).</p>
<p>U U Dad, I understand your frustration because I felt similar infuriation.</p>
<p>My 1st jury duty experience was in Oakland CA. After dutifully answering the summons, taking a day off work, and sitting around doing nothing for an entire day, I learned it was at MISDEMEANOR court!! Yes, they assembled 50 or so potential jurors and had us sitting around all day on the off chance that someone accused of a misdemeanor would request trial by a jury of their peers (as is their constitutional right). We were told it was very rare for anyone to request a jury trial. 99.9% were either plead out or tried in front of a judge. I was very peeved. Why couldn’t they call in a jury next day if somebody demanded a jury trial? Much easier to make folks sit around and do nothing all day.</p>
<p>
momof3sons:
I have no doubt that you’re correct and never thought they were slacking. The problem I have is that this timing is at the expense of the jurors who have to hang around doing nothing in the meantime. The system is quite liberal with the Jurors’ time.</p>
<p>In Germany loser pays all. So companies never get sued – they have deep pockets, and individuals know they can’t compete. Instead, Germany has the highest rate in the world of people suing their neighbors – for barking dogs, mowing on Sunday, slipping on their icy sidewalk, you name it. It’s ridiculous. Everyone is required to have “personal insurance” to pay for potential lawsuits.</p>
<p>They don’t have jurors, either. So a case is on the whim of the judge. Some are better than others. Foreigners always lose. Lawyers aren’t well paid (or that well educated), and don’t care that much – they’re going to get paid one way or another, regardless of who wins.</p>
<p>I’ve served jury duty twice (in the US). First time I was 6 months pregnant, and asked to be excused because I had to go the bathroom every 20 minutes. Instead, they gave me frequent, embarrassing breaks. It was an injury suit, and I was a nurse. I was supposed to be compassionate? It was also a chiropracter case (no offense intended, but it was comical.) The prosecuting attorney showed us all the xrays of “injuries” – up-side-down! We found for the defendant.</p>
<p>Second time the summons came two days after I arrived in the US from Germany, and the duty was the week after our shipment of furniture arrived. I also had a couple medical appointments that week. I told the court I was willing to rearrange things, but would prefer not to have to. I didn’t officially get excused, but neither did I get seated, so I only lost a day. The same day I was called, they were also seating for a murder trial that was expected to take weeks, and be sequestered, so I was really, really thankful I was only assigned to an embezlement case.</p>
<p>
This court I was at (San Diego County Superior court) has them all. The jury pool could have been called for felony criminal cases, misdemeanor criminal cases, or civil cases. The people in the pool could be called to any of them at random and yes, many of them end up with the plea or settlement - again at the expense of the John or Jane Q citizen juror.</p>
<p>I don’t see why the criminal (let’s face it - most of them are guilty) or the civil litigator can’t simply be told that they have to make up their mind by Thursday at noon or else it WILL go to the jury and then they’ll have to go regardless if they didn’t opt not to by then. The actual court date could then be set and jurors brought in at that time who WILL end up in the courtroom. As long as that’s the process the lawyers could advise their clients that it’s time to put up or shut up with their decision and live with it later.</p>
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<p>ucla–You are sure most of them are guilty of <em>something</em> right? Be thankful you live in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty. It could happen to you someday.</p>
<p>My H served on a jury once and happily put a drug dealer away. Oddly, I have never even been called. This discussion will put the jinx on me and I will be! lol</p>
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<p>And SOME of them ARE NOT. Ahhhh… But which ones? And which ones will get to jury duty and which ones will be at the mercy of incompetent or corrupt (or both) judges?
UCLA Dad: You scare me. So you lost a day’s worth of your precious time. Remedy: Get off CC. It’s a real time-waster.</p>
<p>marite, you probably serve jury duty at the same place I do.</p>
<p>I also seem to get called every three years, whereas I know plenty of people who have NEVER been called – I want to get put on the “do not call” list.</p>
<p>The last time, I was put on a jury where a woman was suing the owner of a parking lot because she had gone into a health club, it snowed while she was working out, and she slipped and injured herself getting into her car.</p>
<p>I told the judge that I could not imagine a situation where I would find for the plaintiff, and I was excused.</p>
<p>Fendrock:</p>
<p>Yes, I get called far more often than my husband. I wonder why? The last time I was called involved on a drunk driving case. Most of the potential jurors seemed to be part of some anti-drunk driving group–as I am. By the time my name was called, so many had been excused that the defense lawyer decided not to challenge me. So I was there for a day, ending around 4. Previous times, I had not been empanelled, so was at the court until about 1pm.</p>
<p>Why didn’t you bring something to do?</p>
<p>On a side note - I served about 2 years ago and it was a drug case. The funny thing was we had to listened to tapes of people talking with an informant. They gave us transcripts to follow along and the transcripts were not very accurate. I guess because I have teens and I hear the slang and some of the music that’s filled with slang, I noticed it more than perhaps the transcriber ( who may have been my mother’s age). They had typed “unintelligible” in a lot of places that I could clearly have told them what was said. I was thinking that may be a new career I could go in to!
But ucla - I agree that the system is not effiecient at all. Hopefully I am done for awhile.</p>
<p>I’m amazed at the frequency at which some people are called. I have only served once (although I believe I was called one other time but was in the process of moving to another county so they let me out).</p>
<p>I must admit that being on the jury was actually kind of interesting (it was an arson case). I could easliy see myself doing it as a retiree - although only if I could actually be on a jury … sitting in the waiting room was complete torture.</p>
<p>No I’m sure the judge and attorneys had things to do both before and after the hours of the trial, what bugged me was that my day was completely shot - not enough time to do anything before 10, too whipped after 2. Also, amazed by the fact that the proceedings took 2 days. I think the jury was out about 15 minutes.</p>